India escalates attack on Muslim endowments with new law

Legislation threatens control of over 600,000 Muslim properties, paving way for state takeover

NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — Indian parliament has adopted the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, to manage and supervise the Muslim endowments spread all across the country. 

The move initiated by Hindu nationalist government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seen as another form of escalation against Muslims to usurp their endowments. 

The law, which allows non-Muslims to be included on waqf boards and grants the government sweeping control over Islamic endowments, is being condemned as another step in the systematic dispossession of Muslims under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist regime.

The legislation amends the existing Waqf Act, which regulates over 600,000 waqf properties across India, covering nearly one million acres (approximately 1562.5 square miles), nearly twice the size of Mauritius.

These properties—mosques, madrasas, graveyards, orphanages, and other religious and charitable institutions—have historically been protected as communal assets for the benefit of Muslims.

The new bill, critics argue, is designed to weaken Muslim control over these endowments and facilitate state-sanctioned land grabs.

The move follows a well-documented pattern of government actions targeting Muslim institutions. 

Since coming to power in 2014, Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has pursued policies that systematically marginalized Muslims—revoking the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, passing the discriminatory Citizenship Amendment Act, and overseeing the demolition of Muslim homes and businesses under the guise of “anti-encroachment” drives.

Waqf properties have long been a target.

Over the past decade, several state governments, particularly those controlled by the BJP, have attempted to seize or reallocate waqf lands, often using the justification of infrastructure projects. 

In many cases, the land has been repurposed for Hindu religious sites or commercial development.

With the latest amendment, legal experts warn that this process could accelerate under government oversight, stripping the Muslim community of its historic endowments.

Legal tool for expropriation

One of the bill’s most contentious provisions is the inclusion of non-Muslims on waqf boards, which have traditionally been responsible for managing Islamic endowments.

Muslim leaders have decried this as a direct interference in their religious affairs.

During the debate in the lower house of parliament or Lok Sabha, All India Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader Asaduddin Owaisi tore up a copy of the Bill, asserting that its motive was to make Muslims “second-class citizens”.

He said: “The objective of this bill is to insult and humiliate Muslims and make Muslims second-class citizens”.

He further said the BJP is looking to spark clashes in the country in the name of temples and mosques.

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), a leading Muslim organisation in India, rejected the bill, terming it a “discriminatory, communally motivated, and a blatant infringement on the constitutional rights of Muslim citizens.”

The bill also introduces new government oversight mechanisms, giving authorities the power to review and invalidate waqf property designations.

This, critics say, will provide a legal pathway for reclassifying and confiscating Muslim lands.

From Babri Mosque to Waqf land: Broader Hindutva agenda

The attack on Muslim endowments is part of a broader Hindu nationalist effort to erase Islamic heritage in India.

Since the demolition of the 400-year-old Babri mosque in 1992 and its replacement with a Hindu temple, Hindutva forces have laid claim to more Muslim religious sites.

In recent years, the Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi and Shahi Eidgah in Mathura have been at the center of legal disputes, with Hindu nationalist groups claiming they were built over Hindu temples. 

The Modi government has also pushed for the removal of Islamic influences from school textbooks and enacted laws that disproportionately criminalize Muslims, from beef bans to anti-conversion laws.

The Waqf amendment fits into this broader pattern of institutionalized discrimination, further consolidating the government’s grip over Muslim assets.

The bill now heads to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of parliament, where the BJP is expected to push it through despite opposition.

If passed, Muslim organizations, including the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), have announced plans to challenge the law in court.

Legal experts argue that the amendments violate constitutional protections for religious minorities and will lead to an escalation of land disputes.

Despite growing protests, the government remains determined to push its Hindutva agenda.

As the Modi administration tightens its control over Muslim institutions, India’s 200-million-strong Muslim community faces an uncertain future, with their places of worship, historical sites, and communal assets increasingly under siege.