Prevent Waqf Amendment Bill from ‘causing damage to national unity’: Mehbooba Mufti to JD(U), TDP

Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti on Friday urged Janata Dal (United) president Nitish Kumar and Telugu Desam Party head Chandrababu Naidu to prevent the proposed Waqf Amendment Bill from “causing damage to the national unity and communal harmony of the country”.

The ruling Janata Dal (United) in Bihar and the Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh are allies of the Bharatiya Janata Party. They are part of the ruling National Democratic Alliance.

On January 29, a joint parliamentary committee adopted the revised 2024 Waqf Amendment Bill after a vote, with 15 votes in favour of its draft report and 11 against. Two days earlier, it cleared the bill after accepting proposals from NDA members. Amendments proposed by Opposition MPs were rejected.

In her letter to Kumar and Naidu on Friday, Mufti said that the proposed legislation came at a time when Muslims were being “systematically disenfranchised, disempowered and marginalised politically, socially and economically”.

The proposed Waqf amendment bill not only violates the religious & constitutional rights of Muslims but also seeks to snatch these properties by diluting the autonomy of the Waqf Act . Written to @NitishKumar ji & @ncbn ji urging them to halt this onslaught & assault on the… pic.twitter.com/vgaooH9o05

— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) January 31, 2025

While the bill appeared to “reform” waqf properties,…

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