Muslim Personal Law Board slams Khursheed

Lucknow, July 16 (IANS) Slamming Law Minister Salman Khursheed for blocking amendments to the Waqf Bill, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has said it would begin a series of protests against the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government after Ramzan.

The decision was taken at a Board meeting here Sunday.

Board members said Khursheed's role was anti-minority and he has never favoured the welfare of the community, spokesman Abdul Rahim Qureshi told reporters.

The Board members were particularly miffed at the fact that when their delegation had met the law minister some time back, he had assured them of looking into their demands but the very next day, he said that no amendments would be made in the Bill.

The Board members also decided to submit their demands to the Samajwadi Party (SP) government in Uttar Pradesh and "expect" it to incorporate their amendments in the law that the state was planning to bring.

Some clauses of Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2010 have been opposed by several Muslim outfits since the last two years and they allege that the Bill ignored recommendations of the Justice Rajinder Sachar committee. The bill proposes a series of changes in the way Waqf properties are managed across the country.

These include compulsory Waqf surveys recommended by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) been made optional in the bill, dropping of suggestions of inclusion of all post-Independence cases of Waqf for survey, non-inclusion of treatment of Waqf survey commissioner's notification as deemed mutation for purposes of revenue records and determination of title of property and the fact that the ministry has allegedly diluted the definition of the word "encroacher."