Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], March 26 (ANI): Reacting to the All India Muslim Personal Law Board nationwide 'agitation' against the Waqf Amendment Bill, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader CR Kesavan on Wednesday said that the Waqf Bill will empower underprivileged sections of the Muslim community.

'The Congress government repressive and regressive 1995 Waqf Act greatly victimises and dangerously discriminates against the disadvantaged sections of the Muslim community. This Waqf Amendment Bill will empower underprivileged sections of the Muslim community like children, poor, widows and women,' Kesavan said in a self-made video.

'In 2013, the communal Congress peddling its dangerous agenda of political appeasement and vote bank politics amended the Waqf Act, this gave unfettered powers arbitrary, authority and control to vicious vested interest who went on to exploit, corner and manipulate assets meant for poorer sections of the community,' he said.

Earlier, BJP MP Jagdambika Pal said that the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) wants to create confusion among the minorities of the country.

Pal is the chairperson of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC). In contrast, the AIMPLB and other opposition parties have been protesting against the Waqf Bill and have alleged the Union Government wants to destroy the rights of the Muslim minorities with the Waqf Bill.

'The government wants to amend it so that this law can be made better. The government is trying to amend the Waqf law so that the minorities, especially the poor, can benefit from it..but the bill has not even come yet, and they (the opposition) have already protested at Jantar Mantar, and now they are going to Patna on the 26th and Vijayawada on the 29th, so somewhere in the country they are trying to divide people by creating confusion among minorities and Muslims. What irresponsible thing do they want to do by doing this? ... The law will be made for the welfare of the country', he said.

AIMPLB Spokesperson Syed Qasim Rasool Ilyas on Tuesday slammed the Central government over Waqf (Amendment) Bill, saying that the bill 'has been brought in with a communal intention.'

'We have only said that the Waqf Bill, which has been brought in, is just with a communal intention...That bill only captures the Waqf property...They are trying to mislead the people,' Ilyas said.

The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, aims to address these challenges by introducing reforms such as digitisation, enhanced audits, improved transparency, and legal mechanisms to reclaim illegally occupied properties.

The proposed amendment aims to address these concerns and ensure that Waqf properties are utilised for the intended purposes, benefiting the Muslim community and the country as a whole. (ANI)