On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke at a rally in Hisar, highlighting that the exercise of reforming waqf property management was triggered by letters of hundreds of Muslim widows. He pointed out that if waqf assets had been well managed, Muslim youth wouldn't have been reduced to doing petty work, including mending punctures of bicycles, to survive.
This was announced a few days after the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, had been put into effect, following the assent of the President on April 5. The Parliament had passed the legislation on April 4 and it became effective from April 8.
During his speech, PM Modi mentioned that the waqf properties were used improperly for years, not to help the poor Muslim community but the land mafia. He added, "It was only after hundreds of widowed Muslim women wrote to the Government of India that the issue was raised, eventually leading to the law being amended."
He continued further, "Now, exploitation of the poor will finally be put to rest. If proper utilization of money was done since the beginning, our young Muslim boys wouldn't have had to sustain themselves with patching punctured bicycles." PM's utterance also shed some light upon the fact that objections to wastage of waqf lands were not made merely by the non-Muslim community but even by poor Muslims.
New Waqf Law To Help Poor Muslims: PM Modi
PM Modi clarified that the waqf boards will no longer be able to confiscate land or property belonging to tribal people under the new law, and he stated that the new law would specifically assist poor and Pasmanda Muslims.
These comments were made while the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Maharaja Agrasen Airport in Hisar, Haryana, and the first flight to Ayodhya, was being launched on the Ambedkar Jayanti occasion.
PM Modi Criticizes Congress for Vote Bank Politics
During his speech, PM Modi targeted Congress, blaming its leaders of being influenced by vote bank politics. He also accused the Congress party of never having appointed a Muslim as its president. "If you care about Muslims, why hasn't Congress made a Muslim the party president?" he questioned.
The Prime Minister also attacked Congress, claiming that the party was now the "destroyer of the Constitution." He used the reference of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's concept of equality and how Congress was said to have stabbed that idea in the back through the indulgence of vote bank politics. "Babasaheb wanted poor people, backward people to live with self-respect, to dream, and to achieve those dreams. Congress, however, infected the country with the disease of vote bank politics," Modi added.
BJP's Pro-Women Policy and Triple Talaq Act
PM Modi also reasserted the BJP's policy of empowering Muslim women, referencing the 2019 legislation prohibiting the practice of instant triple talaq. He positioned the action as a move towards protecting the rights of Muslim women and their families. "The BJP government has put an end to the iniquitous practice of [instant] triple talaq.". We have implemented a good law to safeguard the interests of crores of Muslim sisters and keep their families secure," Modi addressed during an election rally in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, in April last year.
PM Modi’s mention of the letters from Muslim widows as the catalyst for the Waqf law changes underscores the focus on ensuring the rightful use of waqf properties. His comments also reveal that there had been significant Muslim concerns about land being unjustly claimed in the name of waqf.
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