Waqf law issue: AIMPLB accuses NDA constituents of 'stabbing Muslims in the back'

NEW DELHI: Accusing NDA allies like Janata Dal (U), Telugu Desam Party and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) of "stabbing the Muslims in the back" by supporting the Waqf Amendment Act in Parliament, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board on Tuesday asked them to come forward now and support their demand and force the govt to withdraw the law or else be ready to face the community’s opposition everywhere.

In a show of strength, AIMPLB - a body of influential clerics, brought together prominent voices from the community, clerics and some members of Parliament on Tuesday making Delhi’s Talkatora Indoor Stadium the platform to intensify its protest and demand that the govt take back the recently notified amended law.

In a packed stadium and amid loud sloganeering, participants wearing black bands on their arms called for the repeal of the amended law at the ‘Save Waqf’ conference. Muslim organisations asserted that they will continue their protests through peaceful means and hold similar meetings and conferences across states to build awareness about the provisions of the law that they claim are “unconstitutional”.

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi , RJD MP Manoj Jha, Samajwadi Party MPs Dharmendra Yadav and Mohibulla Nadvi spoke at the conference in solidarity with the Board. Shia Muslim cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawad, AIMPLB president Khalid Saifullah Rahmani and general secretary Fazlur Rahim Mujaddidi were among those who participated. others, addressed the conference.

Mujaddidi said they are fighting to protect the " Constitutional principles and secularism ". He asserted that the Waqf Amendment Act is not acceptable and should be repealed.

He lashed out at NDA constituents - Nitish Kumar's JD(U), Chandrababu Naidu's TDP, LJP (Ram Vilas) of Chirag Paswan, Jayant Chaudhary's RLD, and Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) and Ajit Pawar from Nationalist Congress Party alleging that by backing the amendments brought to the Waqf Act they have “stabbed the Muslims in the back”.

"So, they should either force the government to repeal the law or be ready to face our opposition everywhere," he said, referring to the NDA allies.

Dwelling on the provisions, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi alleged that the Waqf (Amendment) Act had been brought by Prime Minister Narendra Modi led govt to make "land grabbers owners of Waqf properties”. "All Muslim organisations from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, who appeared during the deliberations of Parliament's Waqf panel were against it," Owaisi said as he questioned those praising the amended law.