Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his personal intervention to withdrawal of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, which was introduced in parliament today for debate and passing. All the non-NDA parties, including Mr Stalin’s DMK, have united to block the bill.

The Tamil Nadu Assembly has already passed a resolution to urge the Centre to withdraw the Bill.

In his letter, Mr Stalin said the Constitution grants every citizen the right to follow their respective religion and it is the duty of the elected governments to uphold and protect this right. 

But the proposed amendments in the bill have not taken that into consideration and the amended law is “bound to severely harm the interest of Muslim community,” he wrote. 

He cited multiple points in his letter to cite how the bill can interfere with and undermine the religious autonomy of the Waqf boards as well as the Muslim community. 

As examples, he cited the proposed mandatory inclusion of two non-Muslim members in waqf boards. The removal of the ‘Waqf by user’ provision threatens the status of many historical Waqf properties, he wrote.

The stipulation that the “individuals who practiced Islam for at least five years only can donate properties to Waqf will prevent non-Muslims from donating properties to Waqf which will hinder the syncretic culture of the country,” he added.