AMRITSAR: Indian Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring has warned that after seizing 44 lakh acres of Muslim land by enacting the Waqf Amendment Act, the Bharatiya Janata Party government in India is conspiring to grab Sikh properties.
Speaking at an event in Malerkotla, the Ludhiana MP revealed that the Hindutva party’s focus after the Muslims could be the Sikh community, adding that similar actions could be taken against the properties of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee.
The committee is responsible for the management and administration of gurdwaras.
The BJP has created an atmosphere of fear among Muslims in India, Warring alleged. Not one of the 240 MPs that the Hindutva party had in the Lok Sabha was a Muslim, he added.
Stating that the BJP and its ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, would not be allowed to succeed in Punjab, Warring said: “There are places in Punjab where the Sikh community has provided land for mosques and graveyards for the Muslim brethren.”
A waqf is an endowment under Islamic law dedicated to a religious, educational or charitable cause. Each state has a waqf board led by a legal entity vested with the power to acquire, hold and transfer property.
The 2024 Waqf Amendment Bill proposed amendments to 44 sections of the 1995 Waqf Act, including allowing non-Muslims on waqf boards, restricting property donations and changing how waqf tribunals function.
