The Curious Case of Waqf

THE Waqf (Amendment) Act has once again raised questions about the BJP government's true intentions on issues concerning Muslims in the country. Is this Act aimed at initiating a reform process within the numerous unwieldy Waqf boards, or is it a move to weaken their power?

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, is the result of hundreds of complaints from Muslims, including women and widows, against the earlier system, which, he claimed, did not work for them.

During a meeting with a delegation of the Dawoodi Bohra community, Modi said he had received more than 1,700 complaints about Waqf properties from various Muslim communities after his re-election in 2019. On April 4, the Upper House cleared the Bill, with 128 members voting in favour and 95 against the legislation.

Modi said the new law would empower victims, especially widows, and bring justice to the poorest. But the Opposition, Muslim bodies and civil society have slammed it as a land grab that threatens constitutional religious freedoms and disenfranchises minorities by seizing Waqf land meant for charity.

Is the Waqf (Amendment) Act a case of arbitrary government overreach? Is it another step towards curtailing the personal laws that govern marriages and inheritances in India? Is the new law yet another attempt at the dispossession of Muslim identity? Or is it a genuine effort at reform, aimed at benefiting the poor and Muslim widows?