Waqf Law: Was the Timing Just a Coincidence?

Following the Eid holidays, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with Bangladesh’s Chief Advisor Mohammad Yunus on the sidelines of the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiatives for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) summit in Bangkok. Before the meeting, Modi had sent Yunus a letter conveying Eid greetings, stating that during the holy month of Ramzan, 200 million Indian Muslims had spent a sacred time in fasting and prayers alongside their brothers and sisters around the world.

At the Bangkok meeting, Modi expressed concern and dissatisfaction to Yunus over incidents of oppression and persecution of minorities in Bangladesh, particularly Hindus.

Meanwhile, back in India, the new Waqf law has become a subject of significant curiosity and controversy among the public, including the country’s 200 million Muslims. Accusations have arisen that the government is interfering in Muslim religious affairs.

Just a day before Modi left for Bangkok, the new Waqf Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha with a majority vote. On the day of the Modi-Yunus meeting in Bangkok, the Bill was also passed in the Rajya Sabha, the Upper House of Indian parliament. Before Modi returned to the country after his Thailand and Sri Lanka visit, President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to the Bill. On Tuesday, April 8, the Indian government officially implemented the law through a gazette notification.

Now, the law’s fate lies with the Supreme Court. Several Opposition parties, including Congress, have called the law unconstitutional and petitioned the court to overturn it. Among the petitioners are two of India’s largest Muslim organisations -- the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind. The Supreme Court will hear the case on April 16, 2025.

The Modi government has filed a caveat to ensure no ruling is given without hearing the government’s side. Had the court stayed the law’s implementation, the government would have been under pressure. However, the court refrained from doing so, just as it did with the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019. The timing of the verdict on this constitutional matter remains a significant question.

In September, Modi will turn 75. With over 50 years in active politics, his record is filled with successes, failures, criticisms and praises. He refers to himself as the architect of a ‘new Gujarat.’ However, as Gujarat’s Chief Minister, India witnessed one of the worst communal riots in its history.

As Prime Minister, Modi has successfully consolidated the divided Hindu castes under BJP’s electoral base. He continues to advocate for Hindu interests and Hindutva, defying all criticism. Modi, the Prime Minister of a secular India, had laid the foundation stone and inaugurated the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. He inaugurated the new Parliament building with Hindu rituals. Whether in India or abroad, temple visits and religious rites have become part of his official programmes. To millions, he is seen as the ‘Emperor of Hindu Hearts.’ Without changing the Constitution, he has advanced India significantly toward becoming a Hindu Rashtra (Hindu Nation).

On the other hand, interfering in Muslim Personal Law is part of Modi’s broader Hindutva agenda. He has positioned himself as a ‘protector’ of Muslim women, particularly through the law banning triple talaq. The recent changes to the Waqf law are seen as steps toward implementing the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), a long-standing Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS-BJP objective. The new law allows for non-Muslim members to be appointed to Waqf Boards/Councils.

Will the Modi government be able to show the same boldness when it comes to Hindu religious trusts? The BJP is currently following a double-faced policy when it comes to Christians. In the Northeast, the anti-Church stance of the saffron camp is well known. Meanwhile, the Southern states they are trying to woo Christians in bid to ‘use them’ against Muslims. Considering the BJP’s consistent approach toward religious minorities, it wouldn’t be unfounded to apprehend that after the Kerala and Tamil Nadu Assembly elections in April–May next year (2026), the Modi government might also intervene in the administrative affairs of the Church.

The BJP has long pursued three major goals -- building the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, abrogating Article 370 (which granted special status to Kashmir), and gradually implementing the UCC. With these accomplishments, Modi recently visited the headquarters of the RSS, the BJP’s ideological parent.

As part of his project to establish totalitarian Hindutva dominance, Modi has pushed forward with implementing UCC by initiating reforms to Muslim personal laws, an agenda central to BJP’s idea of uniformity. Modi began this process with the amendment of the triple talaq law in before 2019 parliamentary election. In doing so, the religiously rigid Modi and his followers have cloaked themselves in the guise of progressivism.

On one hand, Modi attempts to convince Muslim women that Islam does not safeguard or respect their dignity; while on the other, he is trying to divide the community between rich and poor.

In BJP’s national executive meeting held in Hyderabad in 2022, Modi spoke about reaching out to the economically backward section of minorities, especially the Muslims. Since then, BJP leaders and ministers have repeatedly mentioned ‘Pasmanda (socially and economically backward) Muslims’ in their speeches, as if Muslims in India only started becoming poor after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Following Modi’s Pasmanda outreach, BJP-ruled states like Uttar Pradesh began to claim that even Muslims were no longer avoiding the saffron party by asserting that BJP is receiving a “good number” of Muslim votes. Backing this claim with statistics isn't difficult—but the actual reason lies elsewhere. Poverty is more prevalent among Muslims. As a result, they rely heavily on the ration system for food and other government welfare programmes.

One can easily understand the reasons why poor Muslims remain more dependent on the ruling party. Many might be surprised to learn that one of the reasons minorities are excessively dependent on the ruling party is our electoral system. While the Election Commission declares results based on Lok Sabha and Assembly constituencies, vote counting is done booth-wise. Political parties can easily find out how each booth voted. If the ruling party doesn’t receive the expected number of votes in Muslim-majority areas, it’s not unlikely that their government benefits could be withdrawn. In recent years, BJP leaders in states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have publicly warned Muslims that a ‘No Vote to BJP’ stance could bring serious trouble for them.

Through this, the BJP is attempting to show that under the Modi government’s slogan of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ (Together with all, development for all), people from all religions are coming together. But in reality, Modi’s BJP is exploiting the extreme poverty of the minorities by ruthless blackmail. The new Waqf law is yet another chapter in this aggressive Hindutva-driven totalitarian control disguised as messiah of Muslims.

In reality, BJP is moving forward with what can be called ‘Rabri’ Politics. Much like the popular North Indian dessert ‘Rabri’, which is prepared with fire from below and air from above, the BJP’s approach is similar—on one hand, in the name of reforms like the triple talaq law and the new Waqf Act, Modi is trying to portray himself as a benevolent saviour in the eyes of a section of Muslims.

On the other hand, BJP-ruled states are enforcing bulldozer-style governance, establishing kangaroo courts, and making Muslim lives unbearable by ‘discovering’ temples beneath mosques. This temple-hunting move has reached such an extent that no one can confidently say it won’t eventually be used as a tactic to displace Muslim neighbours. Hardcore Hindutva followers could then point to a Muslim household and claim that an ancient family temple lies beneath it.

Modi’s stance toward Muslims was most evident with the amended Citizenship Act (CAA), which offers Indian citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, and Jains ousted from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh—excluding Muslims. Numerous domestic and international reports have highlighted how Muslims in India have become increasingly marginalised under Modi’s rule. Their religious freedoms, food choices, and dress are being regulated or restricted.

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom in its last report in March 2025, mentioned that in 2024, religious freedom continued to deteriorate in India. Attacks and discrimination against religious minorities continued to rise. The Hindu nationalists propagated hateful rhetoric and disinformation against Muslims and other religious minorities, during last year’s parliamentary election campaign, the report said.

Denying the allegations, India’s foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, ‘The USCIRF's persistent attempts to misrepresent isolated incidents and cast aspersions on India's vibrant multicultural society reflect a deliberate agenda rather than a genuine concern for religious freedom.’

While Modi remains silent on many of these issues, his government continues to intervene in Muslim personal laws in the name of reform. The newest addition is the Waqf Act. In India, Waqf property refers to assets donated for religious or charitable purposes under Islamic law. These can include mosques, madrasas, orphanages, shelters, or land. Officially, around 3.8 million acres are classified as Waqf property, though most have incomplete documentation.

Government, as well as Hindutva forces, have claimed that the Waqf law has been amended for the benefit of poor and ordinary Muslims. If the vast land holdings under Waqf are properly utilised, at least 1.2 lakh crore can be generated annually, which could be spent on the welfare of poor Muslims. This amount was estimated by Justice Rajinder Sachar Committee in 2006.

Home Minister Amit Shah claims that no one, except Modi, has ever thought about the welfare of Muslims in this way. The Waqf laws enacted during the Congress era did not consider the well-being of the Muslim community, he alleged.

The first Waqf law in India was passed in 1913. Over time, there have been seven to eight amendments or fresh legislations. However, the 2025 law has triggered opposition. The Bill received 288 votes in favour and 232 against in the Lok Sabha. Opposition parties were seen united in Parliament. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge highlighted how the government ignored dissent to push the Bill through.

Dismissing the Opposition’s allegations, Modi called the passage of the Waqf Act a ‘watershed moment.’ He wrote in X (formerly Twitter), ‘The passage of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill and the Mussalman Wakf (Repeal) Bill by both Houses of Parliament marks a watershed moment in our collective quest for socio-economic justice, transparency and inclusive growth. This will particularly help those who have long remained on the margins, thus being denied both voice and opportunity.’

Defending the law, home minister Shah invoked Muslim welfare, stating that the law introduces major reforms, including ensuring representation for women and marginalised Muslims in Waqf administration. The BJP hasn’t been sitting idle either. Its minority wing has announced plans of holding hundred press conferences and 500 community meetings nationwide to explain the law’s importance.

Simultaneously, many Muslim organisations have begun protesting, demanding its repeal. Although protests against CAA were among the most intense in recent memory-marked by dharnas, hunger strikes, and demonstrations—the response before the Waqf law’s passage was comparatively muted. Widespread protests began only after the law was passed in the Upper House.

With the BJP-NDA holding a clear majority, the Bill’s passage wasn’t unexpected. What remains to be seen is how the judiciary responds. Had there been strong protests before the law’s passage, it could have placed pressure on the government, especially concerning its ties with West Asia.

The Modi government often cites its improved relations with the Arab world. Notably, when BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma made derogatory remarks about Prophet Muhammad three years ago, India had to expel her under severe criticism from Arab countries.

A key reason why Muslims failed to organise large protests is the lack of strong community leadership. Many rely on regional political parties. In UP, once it was the late Mulayam Singh Yadav, now it’s Akhilesh Yadav. In Bihar, Lalu Prasad has long played the role of ‘Muslim saviour’, while in West Bengal, it's Mamata Banerjee. Modi is looking to capitalise this situation.

BJP’s aggressive stance against Muslims in the Modi regime has forced the community to seek shelter under different parties, but no strong national Muslim leader has emerged in the past three to four decades. Even secular parties have kept Muslim leaders away from frontline roles, except a few exceptions, like Mohd Salim in CPI-M who is party’s West Bengal secretary as well as polit bureau member. Asaduddin Owaisi of AIMIM stands out, though even within the Muslim community, his credibility is debated.

There seems to be no logical explanation as to why Rahul Gandhi did not participate in the debate on the Waqf Bill in Lok Sabha and why Priyanka Gandhi did not attend the session at all. As the main Opposition party and with Rahul Gandhi positioned as the Leader of the Opposition, this decision reflects a complete lack of responsibility. It has reportedly further unsettled the Muslim community.

The BJP is using the “indecisions” of main Opposition party as a weapon to instil fear among Muslims with the campaign that Congress was not seen standing beside them. There is no doubt that the Congress, despite being a self-proclaimed secular party, has failed to take adequate steps to safeguard the interests of Indian Muslims.

Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra was a commendable initiative. However, prior to that programme, he walked the path of soft Hindutva, thereby legitimising the BJP’s political narrative. The lack of a clear and consistent stance from the top leadership of the main opposition party is a danger to the entire nation—especially to minorities, who are facing the brunt of Modi’s BJP’s aggressive politics in their daily lives. For them, it is a continuous struggle for survival.

The issue is not unique to India. In Bangladesh, and Pakistan, once parts of undivided India, the minorities face similar problems. In Bangladesh, Hindus make up less than 8%, about 1.39 crore people. In Pakistan, even less. On the other, India has a larger Muslim population,14%, that is about 20 crores, the second largest in the World after Indonesia.

After the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government in Bangladesh, minorities, especially Hindus realised that they lack strong leadership to stand up for them. Organisations like the Hindu-Buddhist-Christian Unity Council have become political affiliates of the Awami League. That’s why a young monk like Chinmoy Krishna Das quickly rose to prominence with his Hindu Jagran Manch, prompting the Yunus government to imprison him since November 26, 2024. Minorities in Pakistan too, face a similar scenario. Only recently, after 75 years of independence, the Pakistan People’s Party nominated a Hindu woman in the last national assembly election.

In India, to avoid accusations of Muslim appeasement, political parties have started giving less nomination to Muslim candidates. The BJP has nominated none, with leaders like Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Shahnawaz Hussain being sidelined.

Despite a reduced seat count in 2024, the Modi government still governs with authority. Its uncertainty in the Upper House is now resolved. However, the majority in Parliament doesn’t always translate to public approval, as seen with the three farm laws. Despite being passed in a BJP-majority Parliament, those laws had to be repealed after intense protests by farmers. Participation of Sikhs community in the farmers protest, who are less than 2% of India’s population, was visible enough.

Interestingly, to woo the Sikh community, Modi apologised before nation and announced withdrawal of three laws on Guru Nanak birthday. On the other hand, the Waqf law was passed on the eve of Eid celebrations. Was that timing just a coincidence?

The writer is Executive Editor, The Wall, and former Senior Editor, Times of India. The views are personal.