A Shrinking Sanctuary: India’s Waqf Amendment Bill and the Erosion of Muslim Rights Under Hindutva Rule
A Shrinking Sanctuary: India’s Waqf Amendment Bill and the Erosion of Muslim Rights Under Hindutva Rule
Abu Mohammad Shahed 
In a move that has sparked a firestorm of political debate and ignited deep anxiety among India’s Muslim population, the Indian Parliament has passed sweeping amendments to the country’s waqf legislation. Known as the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, the changes carry profound implications for the religious freedoms, property rights, and cultural sovereignty of over 200 million Muslims in the country.
On April 2 and 3, both chambers of India’s bicameral legislature—the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha—passed the contentious bill, heralding what many see as a new chapter in the state’s increasing encroachment upon Muslim religious and communal spaces. While the government touts the bill as a reformist step towards transparency and inclusivity, critics argue it is the latest salvo in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) sustained campaign to marginalise India’s largest religious minority under the ideological umbrella of Hindutva—a Hindu nationalist worldview that seeks to redefine India’s pluralistic identity as a majoritarian Hindu state.
Now awaiting presidential assent, the Waqf (Amendment) Bill has been widely condemned by opposition parties, Muslim leaders, civil society groups, and human rights activists who argue that the amendments are not merely administrative, but a calculated infringement upon the autonomy of the Muslim community and a threat to India’s secular constitutional framework.
Understanding Waqf: A Legacy Under Siege
Under Islamic law, “waqf” refers to a charitable endowment—a donation of property or land meant for religious, educational, or communal benefit. In India, waqf properties historically include mosques, graveyards, madrasas, orphanages, and other institutions serving the socio-religious needs of the Muslim populace. Governed by the Waqf Act of 1995, these assets are managed by central and state-level Waqf Boards, which are, in theory, autonomous entities entrusted with preserving the integrity and utility of these properties.
India possesses the world’s largest collection of waqf assets, with the Waqf Assets Management System estimating over 872,000 immovable properties encompassing nearly a million acres of land. Their combined estimated value exceeds $14 billion, making these properties highly coveted and, increasingly, politically charged.
The Amendments: Rebranding Control as Reform
The BJP-led central government claims that the new bill is a corrective measure to improve governance, eliminate corruption, and prevent the misuse or encroachment of waqf lands. It argues that waqf assets have long suffered from opaque administration, allegations of embezzlement, and underutilisation—issues that the new bill seeks to resolve.
But a closer examination of the bill’s provisions reveals profound alterations to the architecture of waqf management—changes that go far beyond administrative housekeeping.
Among the most contentious provisions are:
• Inclusion of Non-Muslims on Waqf Boards: For the first time, individuals not belonging to the Muslim faith will be permitted to serve on waqf management bodies. This has drawn sharp criticism as an infringement upon the religious autonomy of Muslims, who consider waqf institutions an internal matter of the community.
• Restriction on Dedications: Only individuals who have demonstrably practiced Islam for at least five years are now eligible to dedicate property as waqf, a stipulation critics fear will be selectively applied or weaponised to deny legitimate endowments.
• Elimination of “Waqf by User”: The amendment abolishes the longstanding provision that allowed properties used continuously for religious purposes over time to be designated as waqf. This change is seen as an existential threat to numerous centuries-old mosques and shrines that were never formally registered but have been integral to Muslim life for generations.
• Transfer of Dispute Resolution to Bureaucrats: The exclusive jurisdiction of waqf tribunals has been diluted, granting district collectors—state-appointed bureaucrats—the power to adjudicate disputes, particularly concerning whether land qualifies as waqf. Critics view this as a blatant power shift from the judiciary to the executive, and an open invitation for politically motivated interference.
• Stripping Government-Registered Land of Waqf Status: Any waqf property that overlaps with government land records may lose its waqf designation, effectively placing unregistered or disputed properties at the mercy of state authorities.
• Increased Central Oversight: The bill empowers the central government to issue rules for the registration and audit of waqf properties and management boards—another mechanism feared to tighten bureaucratic control over Muslim affairs.
While the bill offers cosmetic gestures of inclusion—such as reserving seats on waqf boards for women and representatives from marginalised Muslim communities like the Shia, Bohra, and Pashmanda groups—these are widely seen as fig leaves masking a deeper agenda of institutional takeover.
The Political Context: Pattern or Coincidence?
The passage of this bill cannot be viewed in isolation. It represents a logical progression in a broader ideological project being implemented by the BJP since its ascent to power in 2014. From the revocation of Article 370 and the dismantling of Jammu and Kashmir’s special constitutional status, to the enactment of the Citizenship Amendment Act in 2019, and the Supreme Court-aided construction of the Ram Mandir on the ruins of the Babri Masjid, the Modi administration has systematically advanced the Hindutva goal of Hindu primacy in India’s political and cultural landscape.
In this context, the Waqf Amendment Bill emerges not as an administrative reform, but as part of a consistent pattern of eroding Muslim political agency and autonomy. It is the bureaucratic face of a deeper ideological transformation, one that seeks to render Muslims culturally invisible while tightening state control over every aspect of their religious life.
As Mahua Moitra, a member of the Trinamool Congress, forcefully declared in Parliament, “This is a dark day for India’s secular democracy. The bill directly violates the constitutional promise of religious freedom and institutional autonomy.” Her voice joins a growing chorus that sees the bill as emblematic of an authoritarian shift under the guise of legislative normalcy.
Opposition and Legal Pushback
The opposition’s response has been vociferous. When the bill was initially introduced in 2024, opposition parties demanded its referral to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for in-depth review. Though the committee was eventually constituted, its proceedings were widely criticised as perfunctory, with all opposition recommendations summarily discarded.
Congress, Samajwadi Party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, and various regional parties have denounced the amendments as unconstitutional, vowing to challenge the legislation in the Supreme Court. The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), India’s highest body of Muslim religious affairs, has called the law “a direct attack on the constitutional rights of Muslims,” and warned that the changes would be challenged both legally and politically.
The AIMPLB has also questioned the government’s selective activism, asking why similar reforms are not proposed for Hindu or Christian religious institutions. The board has demanded to know why waqf boards should be forced to include non-Muslim members when the management bodies of temples, churches, and gurdwaras remain exclusively governed by their respective communities.
The Ujjain Precedent: A Case Study in Encroachment
Even before the new amendments were formally passed, the vulnerability of waqf lands to state intervention was starkly illustrated in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh. In January 2025, local authorities bulldozed nearly 250 structures—including a century-old mosque—spanning 2.1 hectares (5.27 acres) of waqf land. The demolition was justified as part of a $1 billion redevelopment initiative surrounding the famed Mahakaleshwar temple.
Notably, in June 2023, a revenue official had raised objections to the acquisition of this land, citing a 1985 gazette notification that confirmed its waqf status and recommended that the state obtain a “No Objection Certificate” from the Waqf Board. But just a month later, the district administration declared that such permission was unnecessary for development undertaken in the public interest.
Though compensation was offered to displaced residents, the Madhya Pradesh Waqf Board—led by a BJP appointee—did not formally object or seek the payment. Legal expert Sohail Khan termed the episode a blatant violation of waqf protections and has challenged the demolition in court. For many, Ujjain is not an isolated incident but a precursor of what could become widespread under the new legislative framework.
What Lies Beneath: A Contest for Power, Land, and Identity
At its core, the controversy surrounding the Waqf Amendment Bill is not just about real estate or administrative efficiency. It is about the state’s shifting role from guardian of secular equality to arbiter of religious affairs. It is about who gets to decide what is sacred, who is permitted to participate in the management of faith, and which communities are entitled to hold land, power, and legitimacy.
The government’s claim that the reforms will generate revenue to uplift poor Muslims and women is met with scepticism, especially given the exclusionary trajectory of its other policies. Many observers argue that the bill aims to use waqf land—much of which is located in prime urban areas—for commercial exploitation under the veneer of public benefit.
If allowed to stand, the law could open the floodgates to further appropriation of Muslim heritage and property. It risks setting a dangerous precedent where the state, under majoritarian impulses, can override the religious freedoms of minorities in the name of governance, security, or public interest.
A Nation at a Crossroads
India’s founding vision, as enshrined in its Constitution, is one of secularism, pluralism, and fraternity among all its citizens, regardless of faith. The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, by both its content and context, represents a grave departure from that vision. It is a litmus test not just for Muslim rights, but for the resilience of Indian democracy as a whole.
The question now confronting India is whether it can uphold the pluralist promise of its founding or whether it will continue down a path of exclusion and religious nationalism. As the legislation awaits final assent and judicial review, the future of over 872,000 waqf properties—and, by extension, the institutional soul of Indian Islam—hangs in the balance.
In the global arena, where democracies are increasingly scrutinised for their treatment of minorities, India’s handling of this issue will reverberate far beyond its borders. It will shape its international image, affect its diplomatic relationships, and serve as a case study for how majoritarian democracies negotiate the tension between nationalism and pluralism.
As one community’s sacred spaces become battlegrounds in a broader political conflict, the real test is whether India can preserve its diverse heritage or whether it will sacrifice its secular core at the altar of populist power.
Abu Mohammad Shahed
Abu Mohammad Shahed is a defence and political economy analyst. He is currently working in Policy Forum BangladeshYou May Add Comment Now.
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