Prominent clerics in Lucknow have voiced their disappointment with the Waqf amendments though didn't deny the possibility of corruption- a matter which the Comptroller and Auditor General of India has also flagged.
Maulana Saif Abbas, the chairperson of the Markazzi Shia Chand community has said that if there is illegal occupation and corruption in Waqf properties, an agency like the Central Burau of Investigation (CBI) should look into it, rather than bringing in amendments. He is among other clerics who have said that they will be challenging the amendments in court.
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However, any investigation is easier said than done. In June 2020, the then minister of state for minority welfare, Mohsin Raza had ordered an inquiry into corruption in appointments in Waqf boards. Raza has also said that if Waqf claims are to be believed even Lucknow’s Charbagh Railway station is built on waqf land though there is no documentation to prove it.
A state government investigation had revealed that there were 1.32 lakh properties registered by both- the Shia and the Sunni Waqf boards, on paper. Of these, more than 57,000 were government properties. Also, the real number of properties were much more than the official number.
The report also found out that there are 40 such districts in the state where hundreds of properties are not registered in the records of Shia and Sunni Waqf Boards, but their name has not been transferred in the tehsil records. It also revealed that the boards were claiming government and enemy land as waqf.
Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawwad Naqvi said that peaceful opposition to the amendments shall continue and legal counsel sought. He said that the changes would help the government usurp waqf land.
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Maulana Khalid Rashid Farangi Mahali said that the recommendations given by the All India Muslim Personal Law Board and other bodies had not even been considered. He termed the amendments ‘disappointing’ while asserting that 90 per cent of waqf properties were used as masjids, burial grounds and idgahs.
