Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday urged the Muslim community not to let themselves be used as a vote bank by opposition parties like the Congress and the Left, adding that once they are a vote bank, they will be treated as a commodity.
Speaking at a press conference in Kochi, Rijiju stated that he had also urged the Congress and UDF to vote and support the Waqf Amendment Bill and not indulge in "vote bank politics".
"I urged them (Congress and UDF) on the floor of the house, please vote and support (the bill)… I asked them, don't indulge in vote bank politics… Don't consider any community as a vote bank, and I'm speaking to our Muslim brothers and sisters, don't turn into the vote bank of the Congress Party and the Communists. Once you become a vote bank, you will be treated like commodities," Rijiju said.
"Don't turn yourself into the vote bank of the communists and the congress. The nation is in distress. Any society will be distressed if you regard the community as a vote bank," he added.
Speaking of the Waqf Act, Rijiju stated that land has to be safeguarded and no authority should be able to deprive the lawful owners of land through due process.
He explained that the amendments to the Waqf Act are not against any community but are to rectify previous provisions.
"Land is the most valuable thing for us. If you lose your land, you lose everything. That is why we have taken into account that in India, there should not be any provision for anyone to forcibly and unilaterally take away someone's land.". We have to enact laws to safeguard each inch of land for its legitimate owner. We introduced amendments to this law, because previously there were unparalleled powers conferred on Waqf. This is not aimed at Muslims. There is a myth that the Central govt is against Muslims. But it's not true.
We have come to rectify the wrongs that were done in the past and grant justice to the people," the Union Minister of Minority Affairs said.
He took the example of the Munambam case in Kerala, where 600 fishermen residing there began paying tax on the land, and overnight the Kerala Waqf Board decided 404 acres of fluctuating land in Munambam as Waqf land.
He said on examining such cases, the Modi government had agreed to introduce amendments to the Waqf Act to prevent arbitrary declaration of any land as Waqf land.
"India has the most Waqf properties in the world. In India, Waqf owns the maximum number of properties… The Munambam case reached us a few months ago. I was terribly agitated on coming to know about this case.".
The 600 fisherman residing there began paying tax for the scheme, and boom, the Kerala Waqf Board announced 404 acres of variable land at Munambam as Waqf property. That is the way the catastrophe reached us, and people found out about people's injustice. Considering the agonies of people like these, the Modi government has decided to make amendments in the Waqf Act. Now, there will not be any random declaration of any land as Waqf land," Rijiju added.
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, which was introduced in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on April 2 and 3, respectively, was approved in both Houses and subsequently received the President's approval on April 5, after which it became an Act.
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