"This Is The Danger of Waqf Amendment": Owaisi Notes Vidisha Collector's Fate (Photo @pathan_sumaya)
The Madhya Pradesh government recently transferred Buddhesh Kumar Vaid as Vidisha collector after he refused to allow local Hindu outfits’s demand to permit them to worship in the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)-protected Bijamandal mosque in Vidisha. The outfit made claims that the 11th-century monument was a Vijaya temple.
The collector rejected their demand, citing a 1951 gazette notification produced by the ASI, which found the monument as a Beejamandal mosque.
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Noting the controversy and the transfer of the collector for allegedly not allowing the right-wing demand on Saturday, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi pointed out that the government wants to give expansive powers to the collector so that if someone says that a masjid is not a masjid, the collector must follow the mob’s demands or he or she will be transferred. “No amount of evidence will be sufficient,” Owaisi wrote, highlighting that this is the “danger of the Wakf Amendment Bill.”
“In Madhya Pradesh, Sangh outfits demanded that they be allowed to pray in a mosque. The District Collector noted that the structure was a mosque in the ASI gazette and refused permission. The collector was transferred because he followed the law. This is the danger of the Wakf Amendment Bill. The government wants to give expansive powers to the collector; if someone says that a masjid is not a masjid, the collector must follow the mob’s demands or he’ll be transferred. No amount of evidence will be sufficient,” Owaisi wrote.
In Madhya Pradesh, Sangh outfits demanded that they should be allowed to pray in a mosque. The District Collector noted that the structure was a mosque in ASI gazette & refused permission. The collector was transferred because he followed the law. This is the danger of the Wakf… pic.twitter.com/VTjRATddlI
— Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) August 13, 2024
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The Waqf Bill, recently introduced by the government, has been opposed by the Muslim bodies and several opposition parties, noting unconstitutionality and injustice involved in the proposed amendments. The bill seeks to empower collectors and strip the board’s power to determine if a property is Waqf or not. The board has been handling its affairs independently so far and the excessive interference of the state is viewed by the community as an attempt to snatch their rights and Waqf properties. Following opposition to the bill, it has been referred to a parliamentary committee.
