Wakf misgivings cause of concern for govt

A widening trust-deficit between influential Muslims and minority affairs minister Salman Khurshid threatens to stall a plan to put Islamic assets called wakf to profitable use — raising questions about how well the government’s schemes are taken by the community.

A widening trust-deficit between influential Muslims and minority affairs minister Salman Khurshid threatens to stall a plan to put Islamic assets called wakf to profitable use — raising questions about how well the government’s schemes are taken by the community.

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The UPA government is wary of murmurs of “wakf privatisation”, especially from the Muslim Personal Law Board and Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind.
“There is no question of…(interference) in the constitutional rights of minority institutions, be it educational, religious or charitable,” a government clarification stated.

Yet, Jamiat chief Arshad Madni has called a “wakf conference”. The BJP too has demanded that wakf be used purely for Muslim welfare, its minority department chief Tanveer Ahmed said.

Wakf assets — strewn countrywide — are Islamic endowments for charity, usually in the form of prime real estate. According to a parliamentary report, they can generate over Rs 10,000 crore in revenue.

“That’s an incredible sum for the community’s welfare,” said Rajya Sabha deputy chair K Rahman Khan, the lead author of the parliamentary report, which says of the 4-lakh hectares of wakf property, nearly 3 lakh remain encroached, often by government entities.
Now, plans for a clean-up – with a wakf development agency and mandatory wakf registration — by modifying an earlier law have come unstuck. Even Muslim MPs raised doubts, resulting in they holding back the legislation.

How a wakf is to be used depends on its creator’s intentions — a principle called mansha-e-wakf. Some wakfs, like a drinking-water facility, can serve everybody, unlike others, such as a school for needy Muslims.

The Cabinet recently approved the hiring of a consultant to suggest a finance mechanism — a tricky area, since wakf assets cannot be hired, mortgaged, gifted or sold.

Critics say such financing could route wakf revenue to non-Muslim entities if their funds are used. Khurshid refutes: “By creating an agency to finance wakfs, their properties cannot go into the hands of non-Muslims.”