New Delhi: A program titled ‘The Case of 123 Waqf Properties of Delhi’ was held at the headquarters of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, New Delhi, in which Bahadur Abbas Naqvi, General Secretary of ‘Anjuman Hyderi’, highlighted the issue Waqf properties. Naqvi said, “The Waqf Board is responsible for the maintenance of Waqf properties in Delhi. Currently, most of the properties are not in the custody of the Muslim community. During the period in which the Congress government was in power, there was talk of denotifying all these properties. The question is, when a place is not notified, how can it be de-notified? When this mistake was pointed out, the government formed a ‘one-man committee’ to ascertain the facts of these properties. This committee said in its report that all these 123 properties are of ‘Waqf nature’. The government did not like this report, so again a two-man committee was formed. Anjuman Hyderi and other custodians appeared before these two committees and presented the relevant documents, yet the proceedings reached the final stage and the order came that there was no claimant for the ownership of these properties. However, this order was wrong because the Waqf board does not own any Waqf property, neither can any single entity or individual own them. These properties are owned by the Muslim community. However, the Waqf board acts as a guardian and looks after it. The Waqf Board only has the power to monitor these properties and see whether they are being used properly or not. If a custodian is using a property contrary to the intention of the Waqf, the Waqf board can take action against him. Whereas in the order passed, he is recognized as the owner, which is not correct”. Similarly, the order for the survey of 123 lands has just arrived. This survey is being conducted only on ownership. What is required at this time is that all guardians are aware of the situation and provide as much documentary evidence as possible to the court so that the ownership of all waqf properties comes under the custody of Muslims.”

JIH Assistant Secretary Inamur Rehman, said, “One of the painful aspects about Waqf properties is that the required spirit in the Ummah for this cause is missing. If there is awareness among the Muslim community and national organizations regarding these properties, their recovery can be easy. The government wants to take advantage of this and is reportedly thinking about abolishing the Waqf Act. If the properties of the Waqf are recovered, there can be great progress in eradicating the poverty of the Ummah. Waqf properties are related to the entire Muslim community, therefore Jamaat-e-Islami Hind has been trying to bring awareness in this regard from the beginning. Given the current situation of Waqf, it has been decided that a joint effort should be made by Muslims with stakeholders and organizations working for Waqf.

The National Secretary of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Mohammed Ahmed, chaired the program. A large audience also participated besides other officials of the Jamaat.