The West Bengal Prime Minister, Mamata Banerjee, appeals for calm, saying that the WAQF amendment law will not be “applicable” in the state, home of 25 million Muslims.
The Indian authorities have deployed troops to take energetic measures against mortal protests in the Eastern state of Western Bengal on a recently approved controversial bill that critics say it would dilute the rights of Muslims to administer religious endowments.
The protests on the Federal Law of the WAQF amendment in the Murshidabad district of the Muslim majority of Western Bengal increased on Friday and Saturday, which resulted in three deaths and the trials of more than 150 people, according to the Times of India newspaper.
The newspaper said Sunday that the Superior Court of Calcutta had ordered the “immediate” deployment of the paramilitary border security force (BSF) to the area. Karni Singh, Inspector General of the Border Division of South BSF, said the forces were sent to “help” the local police, not by “independent action.”
The bill, which modified a 1995 law on the guiding or Muslim properties donated for religious or charitable purposes, was approved earlier this month after heated debates in both Chambers of Parliament.
WAQF refers to personal, mobile or immovable property, which is permanently donated by Muslims for religious or charitable purposes. However, the inclusion of non -Muslims in the management of WAQF properties has caused concern among Muslims, who say that the federal government led by the Hindu nationalist party Bharatiya Janata (BJP) is discriminating against them, since other religious groups are still allowed to administer institutions based on faith.
BJP of Prime Minister Narendra Modi states that the amendments aim to provide transparency and fight corruption and bad gimantera in WAQF governance.
But Muslims fear that changes in the 1995 Law can leave WAQF properties, including historical mosques, shops, sanctuaries, gray and thousands of land, vulnerable to confiscation, disputes and demolition.
The opposition says that it is an attack on the Muslim minority of India, which forms about 15 percent of the 1.4 billion people in India, guaranteed in the secular constitution of India.
The leader of the opposition Congress party, Rahul Gandhi, said the bill is “aimed at Muslims today, but establishes a precedent to attack other communities in the future.”
Religious polarization
The Modi decade as Prime Minister has been able to cultivate an image as an aggressive champion of the country’s majority faith and reports show that religious polaros have helped their party to obtain electoral benefits.
The West Bengal Prime Minister, Mamata Banerjee, requested calm on Saturday, saying that his government would not implement the bill in the state, home to 25 million Muslims. “This law will not be applicable in our state. So why the disturbances?” She said in an X publication.
Banerjee, who directs the regional party of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), begged his constituents to “not participate in any non -religious behavior in the name of religion”, promising legal actions against the participants.
Suvendu Adhikari of BJP, the opposition leader in Western Bengal, said in X that more than 400 Hindus had fled Murshidabad because or “religious persecution,” explodes the Banerjee government to embody or legal elements. “
The deputy of TMC, Saugata Roy, told The Times of India that Banerjee had summoned a meeting to pacify the Muslim community. “People’s feelings are agitated by Waqf’s invoice. The reaction was spontaneous,” he said.