Waqf committee meetings become battleground of contesting claims

The Joint Committee of Parliament meetings on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill have turned out to be a battleground for contesting claims, as several government bodies have accused Waqf boards in the country of laying ownership on properties belonging to them and drawn sharp counterclaims.

Opposition members in the committee have claimed that a large number of Waqf properties have been in fact in "unauthorised" possession of government bodies, including the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

Asaduddin AIMIM'S Owaisi, one of the more vocal and articulate opposition voices in the meetings, submit ted a list of 172 Waqf properties in Delhi alone, which, he said, were in the unauthorised possession of the ASI, sources said.