"Surgical strike on devious discount": BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Waqf Act

New Delhi [India], April 14 (ANI): Former Union Minister and senior BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Monday said that the Waqf Amendment Act is a "surgical strike" on a "devious discount on legion of loot".
Speaking to reporters on the Waqf Amendment Act, the BJP leader said that while those who had been engaged in systematic plundering are being knocked out, those "adept in appeasement" are crying.
"The protests by 'legends of loot' against 'blockade of burgle' is proof that 'not something is fishy, but the entire thing is fishy' regarding the current Waqf system. Cleaning up this filth is good for the country and religion," he said.
Naqvi further stated that the Waqf Amendment Act is for the protection of faith and reform of the Waqf system. "This Act is not for any religion but for the country. It does not harm any religion or any religious place," he stated.
"Some people are roaming around with putting 'gun of guile' and 'crate of communal conspiracy' on the shoulders of ordinary people only to 'weave a web of fear and confusion' in the society. We need to cure this communal infection being spread by the 'sinister syndicate', who wants to put a shutter of trust on the gutter of confusion," the former Union Minister said.
Emphasizing the benefits of the Waqf Act, Naqvi said that the Waqf Amendment Act will establish "the rule of law and eliminate the race of loot." It will correct the confusion, contradictions, and conflict of the current Waqf system and pave the way for reform and empowerment.
In a veiled attack on the opposition for protesting against the Waqf Act, the BJP leader said that those people who were struggling with "absence of arguments, lack of logic and famine of facts" during the discussion on the Waqf amendment in the Parliament are now creating ruckus on the streets, adding that these people have launched a "communal attack" on Constitutional reform.
Earlier today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the Congress party of spreading "votebank ka virus" for opposing the recently passed Waqf (Amendment) Act. The Prime Minister also accused the Opposition party of treating the SC and ST community as "second-class citizens." He further said that there were "lakhs of hectares of land" which is under the Waqf board, but the properties and assets have not been used properly to help the poor and the needy.
"There are lakhs of hectares of land in the name of Waqf. If benefits from Waqf properties had been given to the needy, it would have benefitted them. But on land mafia benefitted from these properties," the prime minister said.
He stated that the change in the Waqf law will also stop the "loot of land" under the new amendments: "The loot of the poor will stop with this amended Waqf law. Under the new Waqf law, land or property belonging to any Adivasi cannot be touched by the Waqf Board...Poor Muslims and Pasmanda Muslims will get their rights. This is real social justice."
The Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, came into force on April 8. After a 12-hour discussion, the Rajya Sabha cleared the bill with 128 members voting in favour, whereas 95 members voted against the legislation.
The act aims to modify the Waqf Act, 1995 and the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2013. The 1995 act and the 2013 amendment laid out rules to govern the Waqf properties in India; created special courts (called Waqf Tribunals) with powers similar to civil courts (Tribunal decisions cannot be challenged in civil courts); and prohibited the sale of Waqf properties. (ANI)