IAMC slams BJP’s Waqf law as assault on Indian Muslim autonomy
Washington: The Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) has strongly condemned the BJP government’s newly amendments to the Waqf law, branding them as a calculated attempt to erode the religious and economic autonomy of India’s Muslim community.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the IAMC, America’s largest advocacy organisation of Indian American Muslims, warned that the changes are designed to strip Muslims of control over centuries-old charitable institutions that have long funded schools, hospitals and vital welfare services for vulnerable populations.
“These properties support countless schools, hospitals and welfare projects serving Muslims”, said Rasheed Ahmed, executive director of the IAMC, in a statement. “Increased state control will deprive vulnerable populations of essential support and strip the community of its ability to address socio-economic inequality,” he added. “The aim is clear,” Ahmed continued. “To take control of Waqf institutions and dilute Muslim authority. It undermines religious autonomy and the very purpose of Waqf.”
The IAMC said the amendments are a thinly veiled pretext to justify state intervention and create legal mechanisms to dispossess the Muslim community of control over its assets. “If transparency were genuinely the goal, the government would engage with community leaders and reform Waqf management through consultation, not coercion, it said.
The legislation, it said, is yet another attempt at persecuting Muslims in India and keeping them in the constant state of second-class citizenry. The BJP-led government’s “ultimate goal is to weaken the economic foundations of the Muslim community by seizing control of its institutions,” it added.
“This aligns perfectly with the BJP’s ideological mission to marginalise Muslims and limit their socio-economic mobility. We are actively engaging with international human rights bodies and civil society organisations to highlight the dangers posed by the law because it represents a systematic attack on the religious and economic autonomy of India’s Muslim community,” the IAMC statement said.
