Don’t mislead Indian Muslims: Rijiju rips into Zakir Naik over calls to reject Waqf Bill

New Delhi: Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday hit out at the controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik for making an appeal to Indian Muslims to reject the Waqf Amendment Bill and also warned him against attempts to ‘mislead and misguide’ them from outside the country.

The scathing denouncement by the Union Minister of Minority Affairs came on the back of a provocative social media post by Zakir Naik, where he made an appeal to Muslims to ‘Save Indian Waqf properties, reject the Waqf Amendment Bill.’

Zakir Naik in his social media post said, “This is an urgent call to the Muslims in India to stop this evil which breaches the sacred status of Waqf and has evil repercussions on the future of Islamic institutions.”

He also shared a link of a QR code scan and exhorted the Muslim community to support it en masse to register their objections with the Joint Parliamentary Committee.

“At least 5 million Muslims of India should send their rejection of the Waqf Amendment Bill. We will be held accountable if we do not prevent the Waqf properties from being taken away from the Ummah,” he added.

Kiren Rijiju took strong exception to this ‘intervention’ and attempts to meddle in Indian affairs by foreign forces and warned the Islamic preacher against peddling false propaganda.

“Please do not mislead the innocent Muslims from outside our country. India is a democratic country and people have the right to their own opinion,” Rijiju wrote, while sharing Zakir’s post.

“False propaganda will lead to wrong narratives,” he added.

Notably, the Waqf Amendment Bill, aimed at bringing reforms in the management of Waqf properties is currently being discussed and deliberated upon by the Joint Parliamentary Committee.

The proposed changes in the Waqf Act have created a political divide, though the Joint Parliamentary Committee Chairman Jagdambika Pal has categorically stated that the panel is brainstorming ideas and suggestions to bring a Bill that benefits the poor, women, children and the minority community as a whole.