Lok Sabha passed the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, late Wednesday following debates between the government and the opposition that lasted for more than 12 hours. The bill was approved with 288 in favour and 232 against it. Introduced by Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, the legislation aims to improve the administration of Waqf properties, ensure transparency, introduce technology-driven management, and more.
Rijiju assured that the bill does not interfere with the religious practices of Muslim and is limited solely to Waqf Board properties, emphasising that it is not meant for Masjid management. The bill also repeals the Mussalman Wakf Act of 1923.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the bill will not have a “retrospective effect”. “One more misconception is being spread that it is coming with a retrospective effect. Speak with responsibility when you speak in this House. The bill clearly states that the law will come into effect after the notification is issued by the government when the bill is passed. So, there is no retrospective effect. But Muslims are being scared.”
He added, “First of all, no non-Muslim would come into the Waqf. Understand this clearly. There is no such provision to include any non-Muslim among those who manage the religious institutions; we do not want to do this.”
‘Attack on Constitution, unfair, black day’: Opposition on Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025
Leader of Opposition, Lok Sabha, and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi denounced the bill as an “attack on the Constitution”. He argued that the bill violates Article 25, which guarantees the right to freedom of religion.
“The Waqf (Amendment) Bill is a weapon aimed at marginalising Muslims and usurping their personal laws and property rights. This attack on the Constitution by the RSS, BJP, and their allies is aimed at Muslims today but sets a precedent to target other communities in the future,” he wrote on Twitter (now X).
The Congress MP added, “The Congress party strongly opposes this legislation as it attacks the very idea of India and violates Article 25, the Right to Freedom of Religion.”
Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra also criticised the bill, calling it “unfair”. “There is only a fifty vote difference here, and you realise just how unpopular and against the mandate of the public this bill is. It is only because of the party whip and the two allies that they have managed to get through by the skin of their teeth,” Moitra told reporters.
She added, “It is a very dark day in India’s secular democracy, where the government has brought a bill which is unfair and against the fundamental rights…The amendments are sending a very chilling effect to the Muslim community.”
Samajwadi Party MP Mohibullah Nadvi condemned the bill and said that it has been passed in the lower house of the parliament by ignoring the Constitution.
“A worse law than this has never been made for Muslims in this country. This bill has been passed by ignoring the Constitution…very serious questions will be raised in the country regarding this bill,” Nadvi asserted.
Congress MP and JPC member Imran Masood told reporters that it is a “black day” for Indian muslims. “This is a black day… This is an attack on our rights… The Muslim community and the Waqf both are going to suffer from this…This day will be lodged as a black day in history…We will go to the court and will fight against this bill…,” he said.
MDMK MP Durai Vaiko opposed the bill as it is “against secularism” and “undermines the interest of the Muslim community”. “This Waqf Amendment Bill is against the basic principle of the constitution. It probably undermines the interest of the Muslim community, and this is against secularism. They might have won it, but it is a great injustice to the Muslim community, and we will fight for them till the end,” he told ANI.
‘Bill will end all evils’: BJP’s defence
BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla said that the bill will end all the evils in the Waqf board once it becomes a law. “After more than 13 hours of discussion, the Waqf Amendment Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha… I welcome it…Waqf will no longer be able to claim whatever it wants… Social justice has won today. Poor Muslims, women, orphan children, etc. will also benefit from Waqf properties… This is also a victory for good governance…Now, this bill will go to the Rajya Sabha, and when it becomes a law, all the evils that were in the Waqf system will end… This bill will ensure the rights of poor Muslims and maintain the constitutional system,” Poonawalla said in a video statement.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who is BJP state president for Kerala, wrote on X (formerly Twitter), “Political parties like Congress are too afraid of losing their vote banks, so they lie and create misinformation about Waqf (Amendment) Bill to scare Muslims, even if it means trampling on the rights of all other Indians, including those in Munambam, Kerala.”
Karnataka Legislative Council LoP and BJP MLC Chalavadi Narayanaswamy welcomed the move. “Waqf is a very old issue, and the whole country was looking at it, and finally, they have made some amendments. BJP is very happy…Congress party gave this Waqf to some community to please them for the vote bank purpose…In the next election, they (Congress) will be vanished because of their policies and programs,” he told news agency ANI.
BJP MP Ravi Shankar tagged it a “historic decision”, adding that it will “benefit poor Muslims”.
Uttarakhand Waqf Board Chairman on the bill
“Owaisi insults the very Constitution he swears by… Protesting is allowed in a democracy, but you have to maintain some boundaries. If you have to protest, then protest without causing damage to the country’s property and without spreading anarchy… I appeal to the Muslim community not to get misled by him…,” Uttarakhand Waqf Board Chairman Shadab Shams on AIMIM Chief Asaduddin Owaisi tearing up the Waqf bill in the Lok Sabha.
He further told ANI that he supports the Waqf bill as “good days are coming for poor Muslims”. “The faces of poor Muslims are blossoming like a lotus because the Waqf Amendment Bill has been passed. Good days are coming for poor Muslims as they are ready to join the mainstream… This bill has put a check on the excesses of the Waqf Board and on those Waqf mafias who have looted the Waqf and usurped the rights of poor Muslims… This day will be remembered as an economic revolution for poor Muslims,” he added.
‘Nobody is celebrating it’: Muslim cleric on the bill
Shia cleric Maulana Syed Kalbe Jawad told ANI that Waqf claimed rights on properties based on the documents and that one should prove that it is not Waqf land and not the other way around.
“If the Waqf has staked claim to a property, they have done it based on a document; it is for you to prove that it is not Waqf land,” he said.
He added, “You have usurped Waqf land. You should pay rent or compensation for it or give a land in return. You cannot just brush it off, saying it’s yours… Nobody is celebrating it. Anyone can wear a burqa and come and celebrate, who knows if they are Muslim or not….”
Ashish Warsi, National President of the Indian Sufi Foundation, supported the bill passed in the Lok Sabha yesterday. “I congratulate the government on the passing of this bill in Parliament. Union Home Minister’s speech in Lok Sabha yesterday made everything clear. I appeal to Muslims in the country to read this bill. You will see that this bill be passed in Rajya Sabha too,” he told ANI.