India’s Waqf Amendment Bill 2025: Reform, Repression, or Religious Overreach?

India, a country that often wears its constitutional secularism like a badge of honor, now faces a reckoning. The Waqf Amendment Bill 2025—renaming the 1995 Act to the Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development Act—has ignited fierce debate over the future of waqf properties and religious autonomy for Muslims.

Let’s dig into what this bill changes, why it matters, and what the growing alarm says about India’s secular promise.

What Is a Waqf and Why Was the 1995 Act Significant?

A waqf is an irrevocable charitable endowment under Islamic law. Think mosques, madrasas, graveyards, orphanages, and communal spaces—land given for religious or social good, meant to last forever.

The Waqf Act of 1995 gave these properties legal protection, with State Waqf Boards and tribunals empowered to manage disputes. Importantly, it respected centuries of oral declarations and community usage, which were valid ways to establish a property’s waqf status—even without formal paperwork.

The 2025 Waqf Amendment: What’s Changing?

The Waqf Act of 1995 was designed to regulate Muslim charitable endowments, or waqf properties, ensuring their proper management while respecting religious autonomy.

Fast-forward to 2025: A new amendment passed in the Rajya Sabha (Upper House of Parliament) now allows non-Muslim members on Waqf Boards, a shift that critics argue violates the religious character of these institutions.

India is home to over 600,000 registered waqf properties, covering around 800,000 to 1 million acres. These properties are not just religious—they’re also high-value real estate, generating about ₹163 crore (USD 20 million) annually.

The new bill rewrites this legacy in three major ways:

1. Paper or Perish: Mandatory Documentation Requirement

The amendment demands that all waqf properties must now have formal documentary proof. Centuries-old endowments established by oral will or local tradition? Not good enough anymore.

If documentation is missing, the property’s waqf status could be revoked, and the state could claim it as government land. Worse, in case of disputes, final authority now lies with the government, not the waqf board or tribunal.

This raises the terrifying prospect of legal disenfranchisement for countless properties that lack paperwork but have long served Muslim communities.

2. Non-Muslims on Waqf Boards: Inclusion or Interference?

The bill proposes appointing non-Muslim members to Waqf Boards and Tribunals—a seismic shift from the Islamic principle that only Muslims may manage Muslim religious assets.

Supporters call it inclusive. Critics call it a violation of Article 26 of the Indian Constitution, which guarantees religious groups the right to manage their own affairs.

This isn’t just semantics—it’s about who gets to decide what happens to centuries of sacred property.

3. Opening the Floodgates: Civil Court Interventions

Previously, Waqf Tribunal decisions were final. Now, they can be challenged in civil courts, inviting a flood of litigation.

While judicial review sounds reasonable, it opens the door to delays, abuse, and strategic lawsuits that could freeze or seize waqf properties for years.

Centralized Control or State Overreach?

The government justifies the move as a step toward greater accountability. But legal experts and rights advocates call it centralized overreach.

Until now, Waqf Boards were composed exclusively of Muslims. The change means board-level decisions about Islamic endowments could now be influenced by individuals outside the faith.

This marks a sharp departure from the existing legal framework, raising concerns about minority rights, constitutional protections, and state neutrality.

Double Standards? Hindu Trusts Remain Unaffected

A major concern raised by activists and policy analysts is the disparate treatment of religious trusts.

While Hindu temple trusts continue to operate under state-specific laws with considerable independence, Muslim waqf boards are facing increasing centralization. This apparent inconsistency has stirred questions about equal treatment under the law.

India’s legal system does not currently mandate similar oversight or non-Hindu representation in Hindu religious institutions.

From Policy to Precedent: Babri Masjid and the Loss of Trust

To understand why Indian Muslims fear this bill, rewind to 1992—when the Babri Masjid, a 16th-century waqf mosque, was demolished by a mob as the state stood by.

In 2019, despite the mosque’s documented waqf status and unlawful demolition, the Supreme Court awarded the land to Hindu claimants—not based on legal ownership, but on faith and belief.

The Muslim community was given 5 acres elsewhere. A replacement, not justice. A warning of what happens when religious rights meet political power.

Gyanvapi, Chamarajpet, and the Pattern of Encroachment

It’s not just Babri.

Gyanvapi Mosque, Varanasi: Another registered waqf property. Now under survey and litigation. Hindu claimants argue it was built on a temple. Sound familiar?
Eidgah Maidan, Karnataka: Used for Eid prayers for over 200 years. Recently declared “disputed” by the state. Despite waqf documents and public records, Hindu groups staked claim, and the municipality moved in. Public pressure reversed it—for now.

This is a pattern, not a coincidence.

How Muslim Organizations Are Responding

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) and other Muslim bodies are reportedly planning to challenge the amendment in court.

Their argument? The amendment infringes on Article 26 of the Indian Constitution, which grants every religious denomination the right to manage its own affairs in matters of religion.

This isn’t just a legal concern—it’s about protecting centuries-old institutions and community control over religious assets.

All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB)

“The government is attempting to interfere in religious matters through legislation. Demanding formal proof for properties that predate documentation is unjust and impractical.”

They’ve signaled intent to challenge the amendment in the Supreme Court, citing violations of constitutional rights.

Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind

“Instead of protecting waqf properties, the government is making it easier to challenge and seize them.”

They fear a state-driven land grab masquerading as reform.

Indian Muslim Intellectual Forum

“First it was education, then Personal Law, now Waqf. This is a systematic centralization of Muslim identity and institutions.”

The sense of siege is growing—across courts, schools, and now sacred land.

When Protest Becomes “Jihad”: Dissent Under Fire

Muslims across India have voiced opposition to the bill through digital campaigns, including protest emails and social media appeals.

In a disturbing turn, some partisan media outlets labeled this civic pushback as “Email Jihad,” painting peaceful dissent as religious extremism. The government hasn’t officially used this term, but its circulation reveals how narratives are being manipulated to suppress criticism.

India already ranks 159th out of 180 countries, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF). In comparison, Pakistan is ranked 152nd seven spots above India. These developments only deepen fears around the shrinking space for free speech.

Reform, or Control in the Name of Reform?

The government argues this bill promotes transparency, efficiency, and inclusivity. But for Muslims, it looks like another chapter in a widening campaign of institutional erosion.

A bill that demands ancient proof, allows non-Muslim control, and puts final say in the hands of the state? That’s not transparency—that’s takeover.

The issue isn’t whether waqf properties need regulation. They do. But this bill does it without consultation, without historical sensitivity, and without constitutional parity with other religious trusts.

At Stake: India’s Secular Identity

This isn’t just about land. It’s about trust, citizenship, and the fragile contract between the Indian state and its minorities.

The new Waqf Bill doesn’t just change law—it changes precedent. If even well-documented mosques like Babri or Gyanvapi can be lost, what happens to thousands of smaller waqf lands with no paperwork?

This is not reform—it’s repression disguised as rationalization.

What Happens Next?

The legal route seems inevitable. Community organizations are preparing to challenge the amendment in the Supreme Court of India.

Until then, the question remains: Is India refining secularism through reform—or redefining it through control?

Also See: India’s Waqf Under Siege: A Partition Redux?

Final Word: Regulate with Respect, Not Repression

Waqf institutions are not just plots of land—they are legacies of spiritual intent and community care. If regulation comes at the cost of identity, dignity, and equity, then it ceases to be reform.

In the end, history will not remember how efficient a law was. It will remember whom it erased.

This piece is part of a series of digital commentaries and social media threads. Researched and compiled by Faiqa Khanum, it presents an informed analysis of legal and socio-political developments. While the views are based on publicly sourced data and documented community responses, they remain those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official editorial position of South Asia Times or its partners.

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SAT Commentaries, a collection of insightful social media threads on current events and social issues, featuring diverse perspectives from various authors.

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India’s Waqf Amendment Bill 2025: Reform, Repression, or Religious Overreach?