Did Indira Gandhi direct states to restore properties to Waqf? Truth behind Owaisi's claim in Lok Sabha

Former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi (R) and her son Rajiv (L) at a Congress Party meeting in New Delhi in 1984. (AFP)

The marathon debate in the Lok Sabha ahead of the passage of the Waqf Amendment Bill on Wednesday saw AIMIM's Asaduddin Owaisi put up a stern opposition to the new legislation. Terming it unconstitutional, the Hyderabad MP cited Mahatma Gandhi's protest against laws in South Africa and tore a copy of the Bill.

During the course of his speech where he made an impassioned appeal to the government to include the 10 amendments he had proposed to the Bill, Owaisi also cited an instance from decades ago, claiming that then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had written to state governments in 1976 directing them to restore properties to the Waqf.

To ascertain the veracity of the sensational claim -- since it is exactly the opposite of what the Bill brought by the Narendra Modi government aims to do (restoring government land claimed as Waqf) -- Moneycontrol accessed a letter by Indira Gandhi written to state governments in 1976.

A copy of the letter by then PM Indira Gandhi to states in March 1976. (Source: wamsi.nic.in)

True to Owaisi's claim, the letter dated March 26, 1976, addressed to the chief ministers of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi, did ask states to "settle the issue on an administrative basis."

"For a variety of reasons, including unsettled conditions after partition, a large number of wakf properties have gone into the adverse possession of private parties as well as State Government departments and local bodies. The Wakf Board could well start legal proceedings against the concerned State Government departments. Obviously such litigation would not be desirable. Hence you should settle the issue on an administrative basis," the letter by Indira Gandhi read.

The letter then goes on to provide "three concrete suggestions" that the Congress had been proposing since 1961 for the quick settlement of such cases, including the option of the Waqf properties being vacated and handed over to the Waqf Board concerned.

i) Where feasible, the Wakf properties should be vacated and handed over to the Wakf Board concerned.

ii) Where costly buildings have been put up on the land and their vacation is not feasible, the State Government may enter into permanent leases with the Wakf Boards, after paying to the Boards the bulk of the market value as premium; or

iii) In the alternative, the State Governments may arrange to make over the fair market value of the lands to the Boards, which will relinquish their rights over the land, if in their direct management, or obtain from the Mutawallis concerned with their consent, the necessary deeds or
relinquishment.

In her letter, Indira Gandhi further referred to a list of properties in the possession of local bodies and state governments that the Wakf Boards have provided to states and asked them to ensure that these were "dealt with as suggested above". She also asked that the states conduct a periodic review of the same and send a monthly report to the Minister of Wakfs and her.

The letter also asks states to consider the possibility of exempting wakf properties from the Rent Control Acts which restricted Waqfs from increasing the rent on such properties.

"Most wakf properties are leased out on very nominal rent which cannot be increased because of Rent Control Acts. In its Interim Report the Wakf Inquiry Committee has suggested that all public wakfs serving a religious or charitable purpose or for that matter all public trust and endowments belonging to any community, should be exempted from the provisions of the Rent Control Acts," the letter read.

"The Committee rightly felt that Wakf, which are not meant to benefit individuals, should be treated differently from individual landlords. I understand that at the suggestion of the Centre, the State of Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have already agreed to exempt public wakf properties from their respective Rent Control Acts. Please look into the possibility of making a similar exemption in your State," it concludes.

The letter by Indira Gandhi was addressed to the chief ministers Giani Zail Singh (Punjab), BD Gupta (Haryana), YS Parmar (Himachal Pradesh), SB Chavan (Maharashtra), SC Shukla (Madhya Pradesh), Hardeo Joshi (Rajasthan) and Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Krishan Chand.