The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) on Saturday condemned the controversial Waqf amendment bill passed by the Indian parliament and declared a nationwide protest and legal battle to overturn the “unjust legislation.”
The board, an NGO established to protect Muslims’ interests in matters of personal law, has called on Muslims to take action to oppose the amended legislation, announcing that the board will “lead a nationwide movement against these amendments in coordination with all religious, community-based, and social organizations, and the campaign will continue until the amendments are fully repealed.”
Despite criticism and opposition from other parties, the Indian parliament, led by the right-wing Hindu nationalist Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), on Friday passed the controversial bill governing Islamic charitable endowments, known as waqf.
Waqf properties, which Muslims donate for religious or charitable purposes, include mosques, graveyards, seminaries, orphanages, schools, markets, and large tracts of land throughout India.
“The Board will not only take the legal route to challenge these discriminatory and unjust amendments in the Supreme Court but will also employ all democratic and peaceful means of protest, including demonstrations, symbolic protests such as wearing black armbands, roundtable meetings with fellow citizens, and press conferences,” said the AIMPLB statement.
The organization added that in each state’s capital, Muslim community leaders will “offer symbolic arrests” and organize protests in districts, culminating in the submission of memoranda to the President of India and the Home Minister via the respective District Magistrates and Collectors.
– Bangladeshi students, organizations strongly react
Students in Bangladesh condemned India’s latest legislation, which they dubbed “anti-Muslim legislation,” by holding a protest rally in the capital Dhaka on Saturday, demanding that the bill be canceled.
Protesters claimed that people in India, including in Kashmir, are being targeted solely because of their Muslim identity.
Student leaders made the remarks during a protest rally in Dhaka, where they also formed a human chain to show solidarity with Muslims in India.
The student political organization Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir organized the protest, which hundreds of protesters participated in.
They said it is not the people of India, but the BJP-led government, that continues to pass and amend laws to suppress Muslims in the country, and they urged global Muslim communities to speak out against the ongoing oppression.
Protesters also demanded that Muslim scholars and community members be consulted before the passage of such laws and amendments, as their consent was required because such laws affected their rights.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, a mainstream religio-political party, issued a statement on Saturday protesting the Waqf Amendment Bill in India and the BJP government’s ongoing anti-Muslim policies.
“The controversial Waqf Amendment Bill is another despicable example of the BJP government’s well-planned efforts to take away the religious freedom, property, and rights of Muslims,” according to the statement.
Earlier, other political parties, including the Khelafat Majlis, issued statements condemning the “plot” to seize Muslim property in India.