[🇮🇳] How Muslims are doing in India?

[Saif]

Security situation for minorities in India deteriorating, US religious freedom panel says

A U.S. panel on religious freedom said on Tuesday the treatment of minorities in India is deteriorating and it recommended sanctions be imposed on India's external spy agency over its alleged involvement in plots to assassinate Sikh separatists, Reuters reports. The U.S. Commission on Intern

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Security situation for minorities in India deteriorating, US religious freedom panel says
FE ONLINE DESK
Published :
Mar 26, 2025 22:52
Updated :
Mar 26, 2025 22:54

A Muslim man offers prayers during Jumat-ul-Vida, or the last Friday of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, inside Jama Masjid (Grand Mosque) in the old quarters of Delhi, India, April 5, 2024. REUTERS/Priyanshu Singh/File photo

A U.S. panel on religious freedom said on Tuesday the treatment of minorities in India is deteriorating and it recommended sanctions be imposed on India's external spy agency over its alleged involvement in plots to assassinate Sikh separatists, Reuters reports.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom also said in its annual report that communist-ruled Vietnam had stepped up efforts to regulate and control religious affairs. It recommended Vietnam be designated a "country of particular concern".

"In 2024, religious freedom conditions in India continued to deteriorate as attacks and discrimination against religious minorities continued to rise," the commission said in the report released on Tuesday.

Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) "propagated hateful rhetoric and disinformation against Muslims and other religious minorities" during last year's election campaign, it said.

India dismissed the report on Wednesday, calling it part of a pattern of "biased and politically motivated assessments".

"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," Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement.​

 

[Saif]

New Indian bill proposes to revamp Muslim land management, faces backlash

The Indian government on Wednesday presented a bill in parliament that plans sweeping changes in the management of vast tracts of land set aside solely for Muslim use, potentially stoking tensions between the government and minority Muslims. The land and properties fall under the “waqf&rdquo

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

New Indian bill proposes to revamp Muslim land management, faces backlash
REUTERS
Published :
Apr 02, 2025 18:01
Updated :
Apr 02, 2025 18:01

A view of Zakir Nagar, a Muslim neighbourhood in New Delhi, India, Sept 18, 2024. Photo : REUTERS

The Indian government on Wednesday presented a bill in parliament that plans sweeping changes in the management of vast tracts of land set aside solely for Muslim use, potentially stoking tensions between the government and minority Muslims.

The land and properties fall under the “waqf” category, which means “to stay” in Arabic, and are endowed by a Muslim for religious, educational or charitable purposes. Such land cannot be transferred or sold.

Government and Muslim organisations estimate that over 25 waqf boards hold nearly 85,1535 properties and 900,000 acres of land, putting them among the top three landowners in India.

The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, tabled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, proposes inclusion of non-Muslim members in the central Waqf Council and waqf boards and will enable the government to determine ownership of disputed waqf properties.

The legislation comes amid tensions between the Muslim community and the Modi government. Opposition lawmakers and Islamic groups see the bill as a plan to secure assets owned by Muslims and to weaken their property rights under the Indian constitution.

Minister of Minority Affairs Kiren Rijiju, who tabled the bill, said it would end corruption, mismanagement and examine ownership rules largely controlled by some Muslim families and elite groups.

The bill should “be viewed as a “pro-Muslim reform,” he said.

VOTE TO DECIDE BILL’S FATE

A vote by ruling alliance and opposition lawmakers in the lower house will decide the fate of the bill later on Wednesday.

“It is okay to reserve two posts in the Waqf board for non-Muslims but does it mean that Muslims will get similar reservation in the boards of Hindu temples?” asked Kamal Farooqui, an official of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board.

“Modi government wants to control the Islamic land bank and they have no right to undermine our institutions,” he said.

A 2006 report by the government-appointed Sachar Committee had urged an overhaul of waqf boards and monitoring of properties to generate higher returns for the Muslim community.

India is set to have the world’s largest Muslim population by 2050, the Pew Research Center has forecast. Yet the community, which makes up about 13 percent of India’s population, lags the national average on indicators such as education, employment and political representation.

Muslim groups allege Modi’s ruling party and hardline Hindu affiliates since 2014 have promoted anti-Islamic policies, violent vigilantism, and demolished Muslim-owned properties.

Modi and his party officials deny religious discrimination allegations.​

 

[Saif]

India's parliament passes bill that would change Muslim land endowments

India's parliament passed a controversial bill moved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government to amend laws governing Muslim land endowments while Muslim groups and opposition parties protested the move. The bill would add non-Muslims to boards that manage waqf land end

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

India's parliament passes bill that would change Muslim land endowments
Published :
Apr 04, 2025 10:36
Updated :
Apr 04, 2025 10:36

India's parliament passed a controversial bill moved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government to amend laws governing Muslim land endowments while Muslim groups and opposition parties protested the move.

The bill would add non-Muslims to boards that manage waqf land endowments and give the government a larger role in validating their land holdings. The government says the changes will help to fight corruption and mismanagement while promoting diversity, but critics fear that it will further undermine the rights of the country’s Muslim minority and could be used to confiscate historic mosques and other property.

The debate was heated in both houses of parliament. The Lower House debated it Wednesday through early Thursday while in the Upper House, the fiery discussion lasted more than 16 hours into early Friday.

The Congress-led opposition firmly opposed the proposal, calling it unconstitutional and discriminatory against Muslims. Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party lacks a majority in the Lower House, but its allies helped to pass the bill.

In the Lower House, 288 members voted for the bill while 232 were against it. Similarly, 128 favored it and 95 voted against it in the Upper House. The bill will now be sent to President Droupadi Murmu for her assent to become law.

Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju introduced the bill to change a 1995 law that set rules for the foundations and set up state-level boards to administer them.

Many Muslim groups as well as the opposition parties say the proposal is discriminatory, politically motivated and an attempt by Modi’s ruling party to weaken minority rights.

The bill was first introduced in parliament last year, and opposition leaders have said some of their subsequent proposals on it were ignored. The government has said opposition parties are using rumors to discredit them and block transparency in managing the endowments.

What’s a waqf?

Waqfs are a traditional type of Islamic charitable foundation in which a donor permanently sets aside property — often but not always real estate — for religious or charitable purposes. Waqf properties cannot be sold or transferred.

Waqfs in India control 872,000 properties that cover 405,000 hectares (1 million acres) of land, worth an estimated $14.22 billion. Some of these endowments date back centuries, and many are used for mosques, seminaries, graveyards and orphanages.

Law would change who runs waqfs

In India, waqf property is managed by semi-official boards, one for each state and federally run union territory. The law would require non-Muslims to be appointed to the boards.

Currently, waqf boards are staffed by Muslims, like similar bodies that help administer other religious charities.

During the parliamentary debate, Home Minister Amit Shah said non-Muslims would be included in waqf boards only for administration purposes and helping run the endowments smoothly. He added that they were not there to interfere in religious affairs.

“The (non-Muslim) members will monitor whether the administration is running as per law or not, and whether the donations are being used for what they were intended or not,” he said.

Muslim groups, like The All India Muslim Personal Law Board, said such comments were against the fundamentals of Islamic endowments as such bodies necessarily need to be governed by Muslims only. The board said the bill was “a blatant infringement on the constitutional rights of Muslim citizens” and called on citizens to hit the streets against it.

Mallikarjun Kharge, the Congress president, said why should waqf bodies allow non-Muslims as members when Hindu temple trusts don’t allow people of other religions in their fold.

One of the most controversial changes is to ownership rules, which could impact historical mosques, shrines and graveyards since many such properties lack formal documentation as they were donated without legal records decades, and even centuries, ago.

Questions about title

Other changes could impact mosques on land held in centuries-old waqfs.

Radical Hindu groups have laid claim to several mosques around India, arguing they are built on the ruins of important Hindu temples. Many such cases are pending in courts.

The law would require waqf boards to seek approval from a district level officer to confirm the waqfs’ claims to property.

Critics say that would undermine the board and could lead to Muslims being stripped of their land. It’s not clear how often the boards would be asked to confirm such claims to land.

“The Waqf (Amendment) Bill is a weapon aimed at marginalising Muslims and usurping their personal laws and property rights,” Rahul Gandhi, the main opposition leader, wrote on social media platform X. He said the bill was an “attack on the Constitution” by the BJP and its allies “aimed at Muslims today but sets a precedent to target other communities in the future.”

Fears among Muslims

While many Muslims agree that waqfs suffer from corruption, encroachments and poor management, they also fear that the new law could give India’s Hindu nationalist government far greater control over Muslim properties, particularly at a time when attacks against minority communities have become more aggressive under Modi, with Muslims often targeted for everything from their food and clothing styles to inter-religious marriages.

Last month, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said in its annual report that religious freedom conditions in India continued to deteriorate while Modi and his party “propagated hateful rhetoric and disinformation against Muslims and other religious minorities” during last year’s election campaign.

Modi’s government says India is run on democratic principles of equality and no discrimination exists in the country.

Muslims, who are 14% of India’s 1.4 billion population, are the largest minority group in the Hindu-majority nation but they are also the poorest, a 2013 government survey found.​

 

[Krishna with Flute]

India's parliament passes bill that would change Muslim land endowments

India's parliament passed a controversial bill moved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government to amend laws governing Muslim land endowments while Muslim groups and opposition parties protested the move. The bill would add non-Muslims to boards that manage waqf land end

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

India's parliament passes bill that would change Muslim land endowments
Published :
Apr 04, 2025 10:36
Updated :
Apr 04, 2025 10:36

View attachment 16246

India's parliament passed a controversial bill moved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government to amend laws governing Muslim land endowments while Muslim groups and opposition parties protested the move.

The bill would add non-Muslims to boards that manage waqf land endowments and give the government a larger role in validating their land holdings. The government says the changes will help to fight corruption and mismanagement while promoting diversity, but critics fear that it will further undermine the rights of the country’s Muslim minority and could be used to confiscate historic mosques and other property.

The debate was heated in both houses of parliament. The Lower House debated it Wednesday through early Thursday while in the Upper House, the fiery discussion lasted more than 16 hours into early Friday.

The Congress-led opposition firmly opposed the proposal, calling it unconstitutional and discriminatory against Muslims. Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party lacks a majority in the Lower House, but its allies helped to pass the bill.

In the Lower House, 288 members voted for the bill while 232 were against it. Similarly, 128 favored it and 95 voted against it in the Upper House. The bill will now be sent to President Droupadi Murmu for her assent to become law.

Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju introduced the bill to change a 1995 law that set rules for the foundations and set up state-level boards to administer them.

Many Muslim groups as well as the opposition parties say the proposal is discriminatory, politically motivated and an attempt by Modi’s ruling party to weaken minority rights.

The bill was first introduced in parliament last year, and opposition leaders have said some of their subsequent proposals on it were ignored. The government has said opposition parties are using rumors to discredit them and block transparency in managing the endowments.

What’s a waqf?

Waqfs are a traditional type of Islamic charitable foundation in which a donor permanently sets aside property — often but not always real estate — for religious or charitable purposes. Waqf properties cannot be sold or transferred.

Waqfs in India control 872,000 properties that cover 405,000 hectares (1 million acres) of land, worth an estimated $14.22 billion. Some of these endowments date back centuries, and many are used for mosques, seminaries, graveyards and orphanages.

Law would change who runs waqfs

In India, waqf property is managed by semi-official boards, one for each state and federally run union territory. The law would require non-Muslims to be appointed to the boards.

Currently, waqf boards are staffed by Muslims, like similar bodies that help administer other religious charities.

During the parliamentary debate, Home Minister Amit Shah said non-Muslims would be included in waqf boards only for administration purposes and helping run the endowments smoothly. He added that they were not there to interfere in religious affairs.

“The (non-Muslim) members will monitor whether the administration is running as per law or not, and whether the donations are being used for what they were intended or not,” he said.

Muslim groups, like The All India Muslim Personal Law Board, said such comments were against the fundamentals of Islamic endowments as such bodies necessarily need to be governed by Muslims only. The board said the bill was “a blatant infringement on the constitutional rights of Muslim citizens” and called on citizens to hit the streets against it.

Mallikarjun Kharge, the Congress president, said why should waqf bodies allow non-Muslims as members when Hindu temple trusts don’t allow people of other religions in their fold.

One of the most controversial changes is to ownership rules, which could impact historical mosques, shrines and graveyards since many such properties lack formal documentation as they were donated without legal records decades, and even centuries, ago.

Questions about title

Other changes could impact mosques on land held in centuries-old waqfs.

Radical Hindu groups have laid claim to several mosques around India, arguing they are built on the ruins of important Hindu temples. Many such cases are pending in courts.

The law would require waqf boards to seek approval from a district level officer to confirm the waqfs’ claims to property.

Critics say that would undermine the board and could lead to Muslims being stripped of their land. It’s not clear how often the boards would be asked to confirm such claims to land.

“The Waqf (Amendment) Bill is a weapon aimed at marginalising Muslims and usurping their personal laws and property rights,” Rahul Gandhi, the main opposition leader, wrote on social media platform X. He said the bill was an “attack on the Constitution” by the BJP and its allies “aimed at Muslims today but sets a precedent to target other communities in the future.”

Fears among Muslims

While many Muslims agree that waqfs suffer from corruption, encroachments and poor management, they also fear that the new law could give India’s Hindu nationalist government far greater control over Muslim properties, particularly at a time when attacks against minority communities have become more aggressive under Modi, with Muslims often targeted for everything from their food and clothing styles to inter-religious marriages.

Last month, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said in its annual report that religious freedom conditions in India continued to deteriorate while Modi and his party “propagated hateful rhetoric and disinformation against Muslims and other religious minorities” during last year’s election campaign.

Modi’s government says India is run on democratic principles of equality and no discrimination exists in the country.

Muslims, who are 14% of India’s 1.4 billion population, are the largest minority group in the Hindu-majority nation but they are also the poorest, a 2013 government survey found.​

A great thing which Indian government did. Waqf mafia checked.

 

[Bilal9]

450 hate speeches against Muslims by BJP leaders out of which 63 are delivered by Modi as per report. I ask everyone to report only one of those 63 speeches here.

It is true that hate for Muslims are growing in India. However, this is partly true. The complete truth is that hate for Muslims is growing across the world including India and other Muslim nations. They believe that they can openly shout slogans like "Gustakh e Rasul ki ek hi saja sar tan se juda", they may do Namaz on road, they can insult Hindu gods, they can demand all right without any responsibility, they can get all benefits without contributing anything to nation and play victim card. Whole world is fed up with them. Jaisa Nabi vaise hi unke manne wale. Jahil, Gunde, Baiman. Inspite of giving two separate nation and lots of land, they remained here. They didn't go to Pakistan. Time to deal with them ruthlessly.

Great sentiments on a weekend. Tabiat thik thak?

 

[Bilal9]

Abu Maududi .. kya naam hai

Correct name (if we're talking about the same person) was Abul A'la Maududi.

Abul A'la Maududi - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Bilal9]

Not the books but Jihadi Literature. One way, any Islamic literature is Jihadi and hateful but what police have captured may be more provocating aimed to incite violence.

If you call the writings of Abul A'la Maududi "Jihadi literature" than may Ma Saraswati help you. He was a modernizer of Islamic thought and an Islamic revivalist. Which is the opposite of jihadist philosophy.

"He also learned English and German to study, intensively, Western philosophy, sociology, and history for full five years: he eventually came up to the conclusion that "ulama' in the past did not endeavor to discover the causes of Europe's rise, and he offered a long list of philosophers whose scholarship had made Europe a world power: Fichte, Hegel, Comte, Mill, Turgot, Adam Smith, Malthus, Rousseau, Voltaire, Montesquieu, Darwin, Goethe, and Herder, among others. Comparing their contribution to that of Muslims, he concluded that the latter did not reach even 1 percent."

Abul A'la Maududi - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I mean - criticizing people is fine, but at least be accurate. Not all Muslims are mad propagators of Jihadist philosophy.

However - I do understand that today's incumbent BJP and RSS administration in India does not like his writings (characterizes them as extremist) and even forced Aligarh Muslim University recently to drop his writings from the syllabus. So be it.

AMU drops works of Maududi from Islamic Studies syllabus

Aligarh: The Aligarh Muslim University has removed the works of 20th century Islamic authors Abul Ala al-Maududi and Sayyid Qutub from the syllabus of Islamic S

kashmirreader.com

 

[Saif]

BNP wants India to reconsider Waqf law to uphold communal harmony

BNP on Sunday expressed optimism that the recently passed controversial Waqf (Amendment) Act 2025 in India’s Lok Sabha would be reconsidered in the interest of maintaining regional communal harmony. "India is a large democratic country and the Indian government will reconsider this law, upho

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

BNP wants India to reconsider Waqf law to uphold communal harmony
FE Online Desk
Published :
Apr 06, 2025 18:29
Updated :
Apr 06, 2025 18:29

BNP on Sunday expressed optimism that the recently passed controversial Waqf (Amendment) Act 2025 in India’s Lok Sabha would be reconsidered in the interest of maintaining regional communal harmony.

"India is a large democratic country and the Indian government will reconsider this law, upholding the guardianship role of the state in protecting the religious rights of citizens of all religions... We express this hope,” said BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed at a press conference at the BNP chairperson’s Gulshan office, UNB reports.

Salahuddin said, “We believe that this step (to reconsider this law) will play a historic role in maintaining regional communal harmony."

He said the All India Muslim Personal Law Board and other like-minded organisations have termed the new law contradictory to the core spirit of the Islamic Waqf system.

According to the organisations, the Waqf Boards should be managed only by Muslims.

“They (the organisations) view this law as a direct interference in the religious rights of Muslim citizens,” he added.

The bill was passed in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday by a vote of 288-232. Later on Friday, the bill was cleared by a vote of 128-95. Indian President Droupadi Murmu has already given her assent to the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025.

Referring to the ancient Islamic endowment system of Waqf in India, Salahuddin said they analysed various provisions of this law and found that it attempts to curtail the rights of India’s minority Muslims and discriminate against them.

He said Muslims in India and various Muslim organisations have reacted by saying that the 'Muslim Waqf (Amendment) Bill-2024' is unconstitutional and politically motivated.

The BNP leader expressed concern that the law, which goes against the traditions, rights, and interests of some 20 crore Muslims — about 14 per cent of India’s population — creates ample scope for misuse. It could lead to disastrous consequences in the management of Islamic religious institutions, he said.

He said some 10 lakh acres of Waqf property under Waqf Boards in India and most of the lands are used for public welfare purposes such as mosques, madrasas, graveyards, and orphanages. The inclusion of non-Muslim members in the governing boards under the new law has sparked controversy and could infringe upon the constitutional rights of Muslim citizens, he added.

"We (BNP) believe that it is not appropriate to take any such step at the state level, as it may lead to the fear of destroying communal harmony due to interference in the religious rights of Muslims and discriminatory behaviour,” said Salahuddin.

He also said that giving non-Muslims authority over the administration and management of these religious properties is tantamount to direct interference in the religious rights of Muslim citizens.

BNP Chairperson’s advisory council member Ismail Zabihullah and its law affairs secretary Barrister Kaiser Kamal were also present at the press conference.​