UP’s claim on Waqf properties puts contentious clause under spotlight

A Waqf is a Muslim religious endowment, usually in the form of landed property, made for purposes of charity and community welfare.

​Lucknow: Only around 4,000 of the 132,000 properties claimed as Waqf assets in Uttar Pradesh qualify under guidelines fixed by the state government, principal secretary, revenue, P Guruprasad has said, with the rest being public properties that belong to or are controlled by the government.

The office of the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board in Lucknow . (HT Photo)

The senior bureaucrat’s claim, which means that 97% of the properties currently believed to be Waqf in Uttar Pradesh are actually property of the state or commons land, is a test case for one