Muslim rights leader says govt assured action over Waqf property registration, flags concerns over jihad narrative

New Delhi: Indian Muslims for Civil Rights (IMCR) Chairman and former MP Mohammad Adeeb on Saturday said that Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju has assured a delegation of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) of action on issues related to the registration of Waqf properties.

Rijiju held discussions with the AIMPLB delegation on December 11 on matters concerning the registration of Waqf properties, against the backdrop of over five lakh properties being initiated for upload on the UMEED Portal till December 6.

The deadline for uploading existing Waqf properties on the portal ended on December 6. Rijiju said that the six-month limit under the Waqf Amendment Act could not be extended, as directed by the Supreme Court. However, to address mutawalli concerns, the minister stated that no penalties would be imposed for the next three months. Mutawallis who missed the deadline are advised to approach the Waqf Tribunal for possible extensions.

Elaborating on the meeting, Adeeb told IANS: “I was also part of that delegation. We presented our issues and grievances in detail. I am happy that the Minister listened to us very carefully, treated us with respect, and assured us that he would make efforts in this direction. There was also discussion on extending the deadline.”

“There is a good thing with this government that if you present your views, then they do acknowledge your problems. We hope that Rijiju, who himself is from a minority community, will take action in this direction. We had raised our voice against the Waqf Amendment Bill; however, it was eventually passed. But there are several problems within the Act, and we would want them to change,” he added.

Adeeb also commented on Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind chief Maulana Mahmood Madani’s remarks on ‘jihad’, contending the “problem” in the country is that the “meaning of ‘jihad’ has been deliberately exploited”.

“Through the media and the government, a narrative has been created that jihad means killing and violence. Maulana Madani has explained, with strong reasoning, the true meaning of jihad and countered attempts to malign it. Jihad is a pure concept; it means raising one’s voice against injustice and helping the oppressed,” he said.

Drawing a parallel with Hinduism and the Mahabharata, he said, “In Hinduism, what did Krishna tell Arjuna? He said, ‘Strike them, stop them’. So does that mean it is permissible in the Hindu religion to kill one’s uncles and cousins? We have never said that. Krishna had told Arjun to fight against injustice; this is jihad. The way the concept of jihad was distorted in the country — land jihad, love jihad — is very wrong.”

Adeeb further said that in the context of the recent Delhi terror blast, Muslims in the country are being “targeted”, and termed the shutting down of Al Falah University as “injustice”.

“We accept what the government has stated so far, that those arrested were the doctors involved in the terror attack. If it is a terrorist attack, then the perpetrators should be punished most severely. However, shutting down a university on this basis, a university which the government itself established, and having the medical council cancel its licence within 24 hours, what kind of justice is this? Students in their third, fourth and fifth years of medical studies have had their lives upended in a single day,” Adeeb told IANS.

He noted that in several terror-related cases, the accused were later pronounced “not guilty”, even though years of their lives had already been lost due to prolonged legal proceedings.

“Many terror attack cases show that after 15 or even 20 years, the Supreme Court or High Courts say that the accused is not guilty, but by then 16 to 20 years of that person’s life are gone. A bomb blast happened, and people were killed, so who was actually responsible? This is done by the security agencies to show that their work is done. A terrorist attack is usually planned over a long time; it does not happen suddenly. Authorities should take time and catch the real culprits at the right moment. Punish the real criminals with the strictest possible punishment. But because of overreaction, conviction rates remain very low,” he added.

Adeeb also criticised suspended Trinamool Congress MLA Humayun Kabir for laying a foundation stone for a Babri Masjid in West Bengal’s Murshidabad ahead of the Assembly elections next year.

“Unfortunately, today’s elections in this country are held on how much one party can harass a single community. The politics of hatred is spreading in India,” he added.

“Next year, Bengal is going to elections, and the preparations have started now. One person stood up and said that he would build the Babri Masjid. How is Babar related to Indian Muslims? Babar came to loot the Indians. Why is a mosque being built in his name?” he said.

IANS