WAQF

Waqf is the bone of contention these days, as we all know, it is an Urdu word and by now we also know that it refers to property donated for charity, dedicated to Allah, thus ensuring that it can’t be sold or purchased or even transferred for personal gain. I know I am treading on dangerous territory here, but I hope my nonsense may just make some sense to the reader. So here goes, most of the people of mine and older generation have heard of Acharya Vinoba Bhave, Gandhiji’s famous disciple, who embarked on a very noble mission of getting land to be donated by the landlords (zamindars) to be distributed to the landless. In today’s age this seems like a harebrained idea, but surprise of surprises, post independence India was still under  influence of Gandhian utopian philosophy and Gandhi’s disciples were venerated. More so as he had no personal or political ambitions, he was solely dedicated to social work. So he was  hugely successful in appealing to the landed gentry, the erstwhile rulers to be magnanimous  and as a result got lakhs of acres of land parcels all across India from Pochampally in Andhra to Ramgarh in Rajasthan which he dutifully distributed to the landless for agricultural subsistence. The movement petered out by 1960, as the idealism began to fade.

I am sure you are wondering why am I referring to this saint and what has he got to do with Waqf per se, well not directly but imagine there was a time when people donated land and today, it is the most precious possession with anyone.He would often say, “Sabai bhoomi Gopal Ki ” ( All the land belongs to the Almighty). We are mere tenants on this planet, the land obviously is His, by whichever name you may like to address Him. To that extent, Waqf Board is right when they lay any claim on any piece of land, but then I am not so sure that any particular religion can lay exclusive claim on it. 

While there are many clauses in the proposed amendment of the Act, the primary reason is the land holdings and claims only, the other issues can be addressed. But that should not come as a surprise as our courts are literally flooded with land related civil suits and lakhs of cases are pending before the lordships. It is common knowledge that Railways, Defence and Waqf Board are the three largest holders of land in the country. Politicians over the years have been eyeing this for its huge monetising potential and there are encroachments galore with the connivance of the authorities. Naturally all three entities have been making an effort to zealously guard their possessions. While the first two are controlled by the Govt of the day, the third one enjoys freedom from any such restrictions, it is here that the govt wants to have some semblance of influence. The contention that no other religion enjoys any such patronage at such a large scale is also true, so to that extent it is discriminatory in nature. Will the govt be happy if similar provisions were incorporated for all the religions as separate boards, I am sure the answer will be in the negative. It would rather have no such entity but then in our multi religious multi-cultural heterogenous society one has to make exceptions bowing to sentiments of the populace within the laid down boundaries.

I am sure better sense will prevail on both the sides, where common ground can be found rather than head towards a clash. It would be prudent for the politicians of all hues to remember the greater cause rather then inflame the emotions. I can only say that we need to tread cautiously…