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The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) meeting on the proposed Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 on Tuesday witnessed interesting demand from Dawoodi Bohra Community, with the community members seeking exclusion from the proposed law.
Senior Advocate Harish Salve, representing the Dawoodi Bohra Community, underlined the community's unique doctrines and practices, asserting their need for exclusion from the proposed legislation to safeguard their faith and administration under the al-Dai al-Mutlaq during the meeting. During the meeting, Salve appeared before the JPC on behalf of Anjuman-E-Shiate Ali Bohra. According to sources, Salve stated that the Dawoodi Bohra Community is part of the Muslim community, has certain unique doctrines and practices, and is a sub-minority within the Shia community in India. As early as 1962, the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India recognized the Dawoodi Bohra Community as a "religious denomination" under Article 26 of the Constitution of India. Even today, this position remains unchanged. Sources informed that Salve told the committee that it is a matter of record that the Dawoodi Bohra Community made a representation as far back as 1923 to be excluded from the waqf legislation of the time. Being a numerically microscopic community, the community's fundamental practices have regretfully been ignored by the overarching provisions for waqfs. After a century of battling to have the Dawoodi Bohra's voice heard. According to sources, Salve told the JPC that the Dawoodi Bohra Community's existence in all matters--spiritual, cultural, and temporal--is contingent on the continued and unbroken existence of a single leader, the al-Dai al-Mutlaq, and that institution is the most distinctive feature of the Dawoodi Bohra faith. He further said that the doctrinal belief of the Dawoodi Bohra Community is that the current Imam, the progeny of the 21st Imam, is in seclusion, and until the Imam returns, the al-Dai al-Mutlaq is the Imam's representative on Earth. In CE 1138, when the then ruler of Yemen, al-Hurrat al-Malika, received instructions from the 20th Imam to appoint the first al-Dai al-Mutlaq, his son (the future 21st Imam) was to go into seclusion. According to sources, in his presentation before the JPC, Salve said that in the Dawoodi Bohra Community, the al-Dai al-Mutlaq is the sole trustee who administers all the properties of the community through Muntazimeen (managers). His decisions are sacrosanct, and challenging his word or his wisdom is sacrilegious. Thus, he cannot be equated to a Mutawalli, whose duty is to fulfill the directions and wishes of the founder of the Waqf. The powers of the Waqf Board to appoint or remove a Mutawalli, if extended to the al-Dai al-Mutlaq, would, for the Dawoodi Bohra community, undermine its founding faith. The Dawoodi Bohra Community strongly stated that the Waqf Act, of 1995, is utterly incompatible with the faith of the Dawoodi Bohra Community. The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, does not remedy this fundamental flaw in the architecture of a regulatory law that puts in place checks and balances that would eviscerate the primacy accorded to the al-Dai al-Mutlaq in the Dawoodi Bohra faith. According to sources, on behalf of the Dawoodi Bohra Community, Salve told the JPC that the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, fails to recognize the distinctiveness of the Dawoodi Bohra Community, nor does it provide for its special treatment. It treats dissimilar communities similarly. Salve said that the Dawoodi Bohra Community seeks exclusion from the provisions of any legislation that brings properties dedicated to charity or for the good of the community under the administration of the Waqf Board since that would be contrary to the faith and essential religious practices of the Dawoodi Bohra Community, which are protected under Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution of India. In today's meeting, other organizations such as Akhil Bhartiya Adhivakta Parishad led by Shreehari Borikar, Anveshak led by Gaurav Agarwal, Dr. Mohammad Hanif Ahmad, Associate Professor, AMU, Aligarh, and Dr. Imran Chudhary and Group, Convener, Student and Madarsa Cell, also appeared before the Joint Committee of Parliament on the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2024. These groups also extended their support for the proposed bill with some amendments and suggestions. It is pertinent to note that the Waqf Act, 1995, which was created to regulate waqf properties, has long faced allegations of mismanagement, corruption, and encroachments. The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, seeks to bring sweeping reforms, introducing digitization, stricter audits, transparency, and legal mechanisms to reclaim illegally occupied properties. The JPC is holding a series of meetings to gather input from government officials, legal experts, Waqf Board members, and community representatives from different states and Union Territories, aiming for the most comprehensive reform possible. The Committee Chairman & BJP MP Jagdambika Pal informed ANI that the first meeting was held on August 22. To date, 25 meetings have been held. During these meetings, six ministries were examined, and 37 stakeholders participated. Around 123 stakeholders have appeared before the committee. From November 9 to 14, we will tour many cities to meet various delegations to prepare our report. We are giving opportunities to everyone to voice their opinions. Each of these 25 meetings usually lasted 9 to 10 hours. The JPC will be able to meet the deadline to submit its report. (ANI)
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