Modi’s remark on Waqf draws flak from Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind head Madani

Patna: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement that there was "no place for Waqf law in the Constitution" on Sunday drew sharp criticism from Islamic scholar Maulana Arshad Madani.

Addressing a function here organised by the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, Madani, who is its president, also urged Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his Andhra Pradesh counterpart Chandrababu Naidu to stall the Waqf Bill that the Modi government is likely to bring in the Parliament's upcoming session.

"I was appalled to learn that Modi ji has expressed the view that Waqf should be done away with since there is no provision in its favour in the Constitution. We did not expect such a frivolous remark from the Prime Minister of India," Madani said, at the conference titled "Save the Constitution and National Solidarity".

He claimed that the comment, made by the Prime Minister while addressing BJP workers in New Delhi on Saturday, seems bereft of sense.

Tomorrow, it may be said that Muslims would not be allowed to offer namaz, go for Haj pilgrimage and give away zakat (alms) since these too find no mention in the Constitution, claimed the head of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, stated to be the largest organisation of Indian Muslims.

"The PM should know that Waqf is an integral part of Islam and it finds mention in the Hadith, which are words spoken by our Prophet. As such, it is the duty of Muslims to safeguard Waqf.

"The PM should also remember that the country's secular Constitution grants every religious minority the right to practise its faith. And Muslims are claiming that right by opposing the Waqf bill," he said.

Madani urged Nitish and Naidu, BJP allies on whom the saffron party depends for surviving in power at the Centre, not to support the Bill stating that doing so "would be tantamount to stabbing Muslims in the back".

Madani decried the "politics of hate" allegedly practised by the BJP.

"The Assam CM (Himanta Biswa Sarma) spent months in Jharkhand,labelling Muslims as infiltrators. He should remember that most of the Muslims are of Indian origin," he said.

Sarma was the BJP's co-in-charge of the assembly elections in adjoining Jharkhand.

Referring to the BJP's defeat in Jharkhand, Madani said, "Those who were trying to spread hate have been humiliated. It is God's mercy, no doubt, but we must acknowledge that Hindus too stood up with us in the fight".

Indirectly referring to Nitish Kumar, who heads JD(U), Madani remarked: "The ruling dispensation of the state is the crutch on which the Centre stands. The powers that be in the state claim they would not let Muslims suffer. The Waqf issue presents them with an opportunity to walk the talk. If they dither, the community must decide whether or not to trust them any more".