Passage of Waqf bill sparks widespread protests across India
New Delhi: The controversial Waqf Amendment Bill 2025 has triggered massive protests across India, particularly following Friday prayers, as demonstrators denounced the legislation as unconstitutional and communal.
According to Kashmir Media Service, in New Delhi, students of Jamia Millia Islamia, led by the All India Students’ Union Association (AISA) and other student bodies, staged a strong demonstration against the bill. Protesters condemned the legislation as a blatant assault on minority rights. In Gujarat’s Ahmedabad, thousands gathered at the historic Jamia Masjid and Sidi Saiyyed Mosque, raising slogans and blocking key roads in a show of defiance. Police resorted to detaining over 50 demonstrators in an attempt to quell the protests. Protests were also witnessed in Chennai (Tamil Nadu) and Coimbatore, where members of Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam and Muslim organizations took to the streets demanding the bill’s withdrawal. In Bengaluru (Karnataka), protests further amplified calls for repealing the legislation. In Bihar’s Jamui district, thousands gathered at Raja Nagar Gosiya Mosque after prayers, chanting slogans against Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi, and Indian ministers, particularly Chirag Paswan, for supporting a bill that they say endangers the fundamental rights of the Muslim community.
Similar large-scale protests erupted in Ranchi (Jharkhand) and Kolkata (West Bengal). In Ranchi, scores of Muslims assembled outside Ekra Mosque after Jumma prayers, holding banners and voicing their strong opposition. Protesters decried the bill as an attack on their constitutional rights and demanded its immediate withdrawal. At Park Circus Crossing in Kolkata, hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets, stating that the BJP was using the bill to divide the country and seize Muslim properties under the guise of legal amendments. “This bill is nothing but a tool for the BJP to further its divisive agenda. It is not just about seizing properties—it’s about criminalizing an entire community,” a protester in Kolkata remarked.
Meanwhile, authorities placed Uttar Pradesh on high alert, deploying heavy police contingents across major cities, including Lucknow, Sambhal, Bahraich, Moradabad, Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur, and Noida. In Lucknow, drone and CCTV surveillance was intensified to monitor public gatherings, as forces’ personnel stood guard to prevent demonstrations.
Pertinently, the bill, passed by the Indian parliament’s upper house on Friday, just a day after clearing the lower house, now awaits the formal assent of Indian President Droupadi Murmu to become law. Critics label the bill a strategic move by the Modi-led government to encroach upon Muslim properties under the pretext of legal reform.
