With battle lines drawn over the passage of the Waqf Amendment Bill in Parliament, the government appears to be confident of getting it passed in Lok Sabha with support from its major allies, Janata Dal-United and Telugu Desam Party. Some amendments from the allies have been accepted by the government. Whatever may be the final outcome, I feel there are four different points of view from which one can look at this bill. First, the government’s view that lakhs of crores of rupees worth of Waqf properties are being controlled by a handful of people who are minting money, and this loot needs to be stopped. Second, the Islamic clerics’ point of view, who say that they would lose control over Waqf properties once the bill is passed. They are trying to strike fear in the minds of Muslims by saying that the government will gain control over their mosques and graveyards. Third, the opposition’s point of view, which is worried about its Muslim vote bank and wants to show solidarity with them, at any cost. When vote bank matters, nobody bothers about reforms. Fourth, the allies of the BJP who have been warned by Muslim outfits that if they support the bill, they would lose support of Muslims, but both Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu remained undeterred. In brief: In the beginning, speculations and rumours were spread about the Waqf bill to create fear among Muslims, but this move failed. When the bill will be passed after a marathon debate, many hidden secrets will tumble out of the cupboard. The people at large will come to know, which parties are taking a stand on this bill for Muslim votes, and which parties are in support of reforms.
