SC order on Waqf Act deserves a second look: Kashmir leaders

The interim order by the Supreme Court on the Waqf Amendment Act, has left many political and religious leaders of Kashmir dissatisfied saying it has left the Muslim community anxious and deserves a second look.

The interim order by the Supreme Court on the Waqf Amendment Act, has left many political and religious leaders of Kashmir dissatisfied saying it has left the Muslim community anxious and deserves a second look.

On Monday, chief minister Omar Abdullah had welcomed the stay on some provisions but wanted a relook on all the other ‘objectionable provisions’. (ANI File)

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to suspend the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, in its entirety but put on hold some contentious provisions pending further judicial scrutiny.

People’s Democratic Party leader and MLA Pulwama, Waheed Para asked why members from outside the faith are being imposed on Muslim religious boards.

“When no other religious board has members imposed from outside their faith, why this step-motherly treatment with Muslims? Why should Waqf Boards carry the burden of external interference? Further, how can a state govt decide who is a ‘practising Muslim’? Faith is a matter of conscience & can never be subjected to govt stamps,” said Para on X

“The interim orders passed by the Supreme Court in Waqf Amendment case strikes at the core of the freedom of religion guaranteed by the Constitution & deserve a second look,” he said.

“We have been saying that people of one religion are being targeted through this bill. It is good that the SC has also understood this. It will be good if other objectionable parts in this Act are also thrown out” he said.

The court suspended the provisions empowering district collectors to decide whether a property claimed as waqf actually belongs to the government, and the stipulation that only a lawful property owner who has been practising Islam for at least five years can create waqf through a formal deed.

The court, however, limited the Central Waqf Council’s - an advisory body under the Union Ministry of Minority Affairs, non-Muslim members to four. Similarly, state waqf boards should not include more than three non-Muslim members. The bench also suggested that chief executive officers of waqf boards should preferably be Muslims, even though the amended law does not expressly mandate this.

Mutahida Majlis-e-Ulema (MMU), the largest conglomerate of religious organisations in J&K headed by chief priest Mirwaiz Umar Farooq while commenting on the interim order of the Supreme Court said that while certain provisions have been stayed, the wider constitutional and religious concerns raised by this Act remain unaddressed, leaving the community “anxious and dissatisfied”.

“Any attempt to dilute Muslim control over these sacred endowments or to erode their historic protection is unacceptable to the community and is against the principles enshrined in the Constitution, which grants every religious denomination the right to manage its own religious affairs.

The Court has provided interim partial interim which is a good indication, but they do not go far enough,” the body said.

It said that many provisions of the Act remain a cause of grave concern. “The abolition of the long-recognised principle of ‘Waqf by user’ threatens centuries-old mosques, shrines, graveyards, and community institutions that have functioned as waqf based on continuous use, even without deeds. …The transfer of survey powers from independent commissioners to district collectors compromises neutrality and gives the state excessive control over religious trusts,” it said.

The MMU said that the amendment as a whole is a “deliberate move” to weaken and seize waqf properties rather than to protect them.

“The MMU, therefore, demands that the Supreme Court urgently take up the matter for final hearing and safeguard the constitutional and religious rights of Muslims. The Act in its present form is concerning and the original protections of the Waqf Act be should be restored,” the statement said.