Panellist at the the ‘Save Waqf, Save Constitution’ discussion held on Saturday.
| Photo Credit: B. VELANKANNI RAJ
DMK Rajya Sabha Member P. Wilson on Saturday said amendments to the Waqf Act brought about in 1995 were sufficient, and the BJP’s decision to form a committee and its actions were “oppressive”.
Speaking at the ‘Save Waqf, Save Constitution’ panel discussion organised by the All India Muslims Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), he said Chief Minister M.K. Stalin passed a resolution in the Assembly when the Waqf (Amendments) Act, 2025, was introduced in Parliament.
“Only the BJP opposed the resolution and staged a walkout from the Assembly. The BJP has betrayed the Muslim community and the AIADMK has formed an alliance with them. When the Bill was sent to a Joint Parliamentary Committee, the DMK appointed two of its MPs, A. Raja and M.M. Abdullah, who travelled across India for over nine months and participated in consultative meetings and opposed the amendments. The committee’s objections were given in writing, and we caused a ruckus in Parliament. We debated it for 15 hours, and it was passed early in the morning. We voted against it,” he said.
He added that the Chief Minister M.K. Stalin had said that the Waqf Act should be challenged in Supreme Court. “After it was passed in the Rajya Sabha on April 4 and became an Act on April 5, we filed a case against it on April 7.”
Former Madras High Court judge Justice D. Hariparanthaman said the latest Waqf Act amendments should be compared to the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act and compared to the rights available to the majority community.
“Section 104 of the Waqf Act which says that anyone can donate to Waqf… has been removed. Now, not even a Muslim can donate but he/she should have been a Muslim for five years. Does HR and CE Act have such a section? A Muslim, Christian, Jain is not prevented from donating to the Mylapore temple. This is the first act that prevents donation. All powers of the Waqf Act are being taken over by the Central government,” he said.
R. Vijayasankar, former Editor, Frontline, highlighted the role of the media in spreading hate against Muslims and underlined the lack of representation of Muslims, Scheduled Castes and Other Backward Communities within mainstream media.
Advocate A. Arulmozhi, retired IAS officer G. Balachandran, and Rahmathunissa, member, AIMPLB, also participated.
Published – August 03, 2025 12:18 am IST
