THE Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, is seeing fireworks not just inside the parliamentary panel deliberating it, but also outside. And the BJP appears to be the gainer, with the controversies bolstering its case that the waqf board has undue powers over land controlled by it, while at the same time helping it appeal to other communities.

In Opposition-ruled Kerala and Karnataka, the rows have literally fallen into the BJP’s lap, with attempts by the waqf board to free plots of settlers getting blown up. Both the ruling LDF in Kerala and the Congress government in Karnataka are on the defensive over the cases, but the BJP has kept pushing.

Adding fuel to the fire, Jagdambika Pal, the chairman of the parliamentary panel considering the waqf Bill – which plans to regulate the powers of the waqf board over land – recently visited the Karnataka site following an appeal by BJP MP Tejasvi Surya.

In Karnataka, the waqf board is fighting allegations that it has laid claim to ASI-protected sites, including temples, among others. In Kerala, the Church itself has got involved as a majority of the 600-odd families settled on the over 400 acres of waqf land in Ernakulam district on which claim has been made are Christians.

The influential Syro Malabar Church is organising protests across Kerala and some thousand-odd churches against the waqf claim. Major Archbishop of the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese Mar Raphael Thattil has sought the Centre and state government’s immediate intervention.

With Christians holding the same numerical strength and clout as Muslims in Kerala, the BJP has been trying to get the Church on its side in a bid to make inroads into the state. The inherent tension between the two minority communities for dominance means the strategy can be productive for the party.

BJP leaders are at the forefront in the agitations in both Karnataka and Kerala, with party sources saying that similar tensions over waqf land are expected to come up in other states. Each such dispute helps build the party’s case for the need for waqf “regulation”.

Like a Kerala leader of the party, B Gopalakrishnan, puts it: “Tomorrow, Sabarimala (the Hindu hill shrine) will become waqf property. (Lord) Ayyappa (the deity at the temple) will have to vacate. Should we allow that? Velankanni Christian shrine (in Tamil Nadu) is important for Christians. If waqf claims a stake over the land, the shrine will go to the board… That is why we brought the Bill (Waqf Amendment Bill).”

After his visit to the Karnataka site and meeting with residents, Pal said the waqf board claiming ownership of “various properties, including religious institutions”, was a matter of concern and he would place the matter before the parliamentary panel. He added that he had received memoranda from various groups on even historical temples being declared as waqf property without any notice.

A BJP leader said the party’s push on the waqf land issue should not be a surprise given that the regulation of its powers has always been on the Sangh’s agenda, with the party projecting the Bill as “justice for all Muslims”.

The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, introduced by the Modi government after returning to power for the third time, seeks to substantially alter the existing framework of waqf law, and shifts the power of governing waqfs from boards and tribunals, which are largely run by the Muslim community, to state governments.

Presenting the Bill in Parliament, Union Minister for Minority Affairs Kiren Rijiju had denied any intention to interfere with the freedom of any religious body. He argued that the existing law – the Waqf Act, 1995 – did not serve its purpose, and said the amendments would “correct the mistakes” and “bring in discipline” which the previous Congress governments had failed to do. The amendments would reform the waqf board functioning, and give “rights to those who have been denied”, he said.

Thus, just as the legislation banning instant triple talaq was projected by the party as a move meant to “help” Muslim women, the waqf Bill is being presented by the BJP as having the larger interests of the community at heart. The party’s social media handles have been claiming dozens of instances of grabbing of temple and public land, benefiting a few, even as little of that trickles down to the ordinary Muslims.

Muslim leaders admit in private that the existing waqf Act suffers from the issue of undue powers, after legislation brought in 1995 and 2013 by Congress-led governments. The 1995 Act was enacted to govern the administration of waqf properties, essentially putting waqf tribunal decisions above any civil court. In 2013, some provisions of the Act were amended to prescribe imprisonment of up to two years for encroachment on waqf property, and to explicitly prohibit the sale, gift, exchange, mortgage, or transfer of waqf property.