Srinagar, Apr 4: Member of Parliament from Srinagar, Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi, has strongly condemned the passage of the Waqf Amendment Bill in Parliament, calling it a “belligerent and bigoted attack on Muslims” and a sign of deepening majoritarianism in India.
In a sharply worded statement released on Friday, Ruhullah said, “India has moved into a dark era of brute majoritarianism where minority interests have been shown the door.” He accused the BJP-led government of reaffirming its “anti-Muslim, anti-minority intent” by pushing the Bill through “in the den of the night” without due deliberation.
The Srinagar MP expressed personal anguish at not being allowed to speak on the Bill, despite being one of the few Muslim voices in the Lok Sabha. “Time was taken at both the introduction and passage of the Bill by the floor leader of JKNC, leaving no space for my intervention. This is structural marginalization,” he stated, calling it a humiliation of the lived realities of Muslims in what he described as the “temple of democracy.”
Ruhullah particularly criticized the Bill’s provisions that take away Waqf Board autonomy, abolish “Waqf by user,” and potentially allow encroachers to claim Muslim religious properties. He termed it “state-sponsored dispossession” and vowed to continue resisting what he sees as an assault on the rights and heritage of the Muslim community.
“The fight will grow stronger,” he declared, as discontent over the Bill grows in various sections of the Muslim community across the country. [KNT]
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