MUMBAI, 11 SEPTEMBER, 2024 (GPN): Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind on Thursday demanded that the BJP-led central government should immediately withdraw the proposed Waqf Amendment Bill-2024.

Addressing a press conference at the Mumbai Press Club at CST, Maharashtra JeIH president Maulana Ilyas Falahi denounced the proposed Waqf Amendment Bill-2024, introduced in the Lok Sabha, as a nefarious conspiracy aimed at undermining and usurping Waqf properties under the guise of protection and transparency.

He said that JeIII completely rejects this bill, which is aimed at destroying Waqf properties and enabling their takeover and demanded that the government should withdraw it immediately.

The proposed bill not only alters the definition of Waqf, the status of Mutawalli and the rights of Waqf Boards, but also, for the first time, mandates the inclusion of non- Muslims in the Central Waqf Council and Waqf Boards under the guise of increasing membership, he noted.

Under the proposed bill, Waqf Board members, who were previously elected, will now be nominated, he pointed out.

Furthermore, the requirement for the Waqf Board chief executive officer to be a Muslim has now been removed, also, the condition of nominating a person proposed by the Waqf Board has been eliminated, paving the way for increased government interference, he charged.

“We call on secular political parties in the NDA and all opposition parties to ensure that this bill is not passed in Parliament,” he urged.