All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday reacted to the new Tirupati temple chairman's remark about employing “only Hindus” at the temple's premises.
Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Owaisi said that while the chairman of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has announced the Hindu-only staff policy in Tirumala, the NDA government at the Centre wants to induct non-Muslims in Waqf Boards.
“...Not even a single member of the 24 members of TTD Board (Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams) is a non-Hindu...The new Chairman of TTD says that the people working there should be Hindu...We are not against this, we just have an objection to the fact that Narendra Modi's government is saying in the proposed bill of Waqf that in the central Waqf Council, it has been made mandatory that 2 non-Muslims members should be there...Why are you bringing this provision in the Waqf bill? ” Owaisi was quoted as saying by ANI.
He added: "TTD is a board of the Hindu religion and Waqf Board is for the Muslim religion. There should be parity...When the trustees of TTD cannot be Muslims, how will a non-Muslim member be on the Waqf Board?..."
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{{/usCountry}}He added: "TTD is a board of the Hindu religion and Waqf Board is for the Muslim religion. There should be parity...When the trustees of TTD cannot be Muslims, how will a non-Muslim member be on the Waqf Board?..."
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{{/usCountry}}The newly-designated chairman of TTD Board B R Naidu on October 31 had said said that all persons who work at the temple's premises should be Hindus.
“Everyone who works at Tirumala should be a Hindu. That would be my first effort. There are many issues in this. We have to look into that,” BR Naidu had said.
Naidu had also said he would discuss with the Andhra Pradesh government on the way forward in dealing with staff members belonging to other faiths. Naidu also said he would consider the possibility of granting them a VRS (Voluntary Retirement Scheme) or transferring them to other departments.
Centre's Waqf Bill
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, introduced in the Lok Sabha in August, aims to bring major reforms by introducing digitization, stricter audits, transparency, and legal mechanisms to reclaim illegally occupied properties.
The bill seeks to bring changes to the powers of state waqf boards, survey of waqf properties and removal of encroachments by amending the Waqf Act, 1995, among other changes.
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The bill has been referred to the Joint Committee of Parliament, which is conducting a series of meetings to gather input from government officials, legal experts, Waqf Board members, and community representatives across different states and Union Territories, aiming to create the most comprehensive reform possible.