New Delhi
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has today suggested the Joint Parliamentary Committee formed to consider the Waqf (Amendment) Act that not only for Muslims, but for the assets of all religions in the country, the same law should be enacted. The letter sent through VHP President Alok Kumar suggested that instead of different laws for control and management of properties of different religious communities, there should be the same law for the settlement of all religious properties in the country.
In a letter to JPC, the VHP has suggested that ‘Waqf has been defined as permanent dedication of any movable or real estate for any purpose recognized as holy, religious or charitable. This surrender is done to Allah, Almighty. Once a property is dedicated in this way, it becomes the property of the Almighty and lies in it.
Similarly, Hindus dedicate movable or real estate to the gods for the maintenance of their temples and religious or charitable purposes. Followers of other religions including Christians, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs also dedicate their property to their religious or charitable objectives. Article 44 of the Constitution of India provides that the state will try to ensure a uniform civil code for citizens across India.
It is noteworthy that the Waqf Act, 1954 was not introduced by the government in Parliament. This was introduced by Mohammad Ahmed Kazmi as a private member bill. But it seems that the then ruling party was involved in introducing this bill. The bill was sent to the Secretary Committee of Rajya Sabha. Surprisingly, the Minister of Law and Minority Affairs CC Biswas was made Chairman of the Committee. He later clarified that the fact was not that the government worked behind the curtain. If the government wanted to sponsor it, it could have come out openly. He defended himself to be made the chairman of the Select Committee, saying that it was just a coincidence that I was made the chairman of the committee and I did not advocate the bill on behalf of the government as a law minister.
