NEW DELHI: After a marathon and fiery debate that went on for nearly 12 hours, the Lok Sabha passed the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025 with 288 votes in favour and 232 against it.
The Bill seeks to amend the Waqf Act of 1995 which governs the management of properties donated by Muslims. Opposition parties have dubbed it “unconstitutional” and discriminatory towards Muslims.
Announcing the result of the division, Speaker Om Birla said that subject to correction 288 votes were cast in favour of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill while 232 members voted against it. Along with the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, the House also cleared the Mussalman Wakf (Repeal) Bill, 2024.
Burning the midnight oil, the Lok Sabha proceedings stretched into early hours of Thursday with several amendments to different parts and clauses of the Bill moved by the Opposition members which were negated by the House. The voting on amendments to the Bill that began soon after midnight went on for nearly two hours.
Replying to the lengthy debate, Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said all views were covered during the discussion. He hit out at the Opposition parties for calling the proposed legislation ‘unconstitutional’. He said that parties should not throw around words like ‘unconstitional’ so casually.
Slamming the Opposition for their statements that minorities were not safe, Rijiju said that there was no place where minorities were more safe than in India.
Defending the government’s stand, he asserted there was nothing unconstitutional or illegal in the Bill. He said the Opposition should not hurl accusations without facts.
Rijiju said there is no place in the world safer than India for minorities and they are safe because the majority is entirely secular. He said even minuscule minority communities like the Parsis are safe in India and all minorities here live with pride.
“Some members have said that minorities are not safe in India. This statement is completely false. There is no place safer than India for minorities.
I am also a minority and we all are living here without any fear and with pride,” he said after the debate on the contentious Bill.
The minister said whenever a minority community faces persecution, it always comes to India to take refuge and cited the examples of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan community, minorities of Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.
“Minorities of Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan came to India after facing religious persecution in their respective countries. How can you say that minorities are not safe in India. Very, very wrong to say this.
“The coming generation will never forgive you. Minorities in India are safe because the majorities of the country are fully secular. This is not the case in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. But still, you abuse us,” he said.
Rijiju said through the Bill, the NDA government is going to unify all minorities in the country. He also highlighted the “wholehearted” support of the Christian community for the Bill.
He said a large number of disputes are pending with the Waqf tribunals and through the legislation, the government wants to expedite these cases.
“We want to expedite the resolution of the disputes in the tribunals. Justice delayed is justice denied. Widows, divorcees, and orphans will be given justice through the Bill,” he said.
Earlier, Asaduddin Owaisi, chief of AIMIM and the MP from Hyderabad, held a symbolic protest against the Waqf Bill, citing the example of Mahatma Gandhi. Participating in the debate, Owaisi had cited the example of Mahatma Gandhi while he was in South Africa and unstapled the Bill.
Alleging that the Bill is unconstitutional, he accused the BJP of wanting to create divisiveness in the country in the name of temples and mosques. ``I condemn this and I request you to accept the 10 amendments,” he said.
The Opposition has contended that the Bill is an assault on the Constitution unconstitutional and violates the fundamental right to practice religion, Article 14, which guarantees equality before law and Article 15, which bars discrimination on the basis of religion.
Senior Congress leader KC Venugopal contended that the Waqf Amendment Bill “is a dangerous, divisive law”.