India's parliament set to debate controversial law on Muslim endowments

India's parliament on Wednesday began discussing a controversial proposal by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist government to amend laws governing Muslim land endowments in the country.

The bill would add non-Muslims to boards that manage waqf land endowments and give the government a larger role in validating their land holdings.

The government says the changes will help to fight corruption and mismanagement while promoting diversity, but critics fear that it will further undermine the rights of the country's Muslim minority and could be used to confiscate historic mosques and other property from them.

Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju introduced the Waqf Amendment Bill on Wednesday, which would reform a 1995 law that set rules for the foundations and set up state-level boards to administer them.

Debate in the parliament's Lower House is expected to be heated as the Congress-led opposition is firmly against the proposal. Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party does not have a majority but may be able to depends on allies to pass the bill. Both BJP and the Congress have asked their lawmakers to be present in the House.

If passed, the bill will need to clear the Upper House before it is sent to President Droupadi Murmu for her assent to become a law.

Many Muslim groups as well as the opposition parties say the proposal is discriminatory, politically motivated and an attempt by Modi's ruling party to weaken the minority rights.

The controversial bill was first introduced in parliament last year, but was later sent to a committee of lawmakers for discussion after opposition parties raised concerns. The committee's report was tabled in both houses of parliament on Feb. 13 amid protests by opposition leaders who said that their inputs were ignored. The government claims that opposition parties are using rumors to discredit them and block transparency in managing the endowments.

What's a waqf?

Waqfs are a traditional type of Islamic charitable foundation in which a donor permanently sets aside property — often but not always real estate — for religious or charitable purposes.

Waqfs in India control 872,000 properties that cover 405,000 hectares (1 million acres) of land, worth an estimated $14.22 billion. Some of these endowments date back centuries, and many are used for mosques, seminaries, graveyards and orphanages.

Law would change who runs waqfs

In India, waqf property is managed by semi-official boards, one for each of the country's states and federally-run union territories. The law would require non-Muslims to be appointed to the boards.

Currently, waqf boards are staffed by Muslims, like similar bodies that help administer other religious charities.

One of the most controversial amendments is the change to ownership rules, which potentially could impact historical mosques, shrines and graveyards under the waqf. It could change the ownership rules of many of these properties which lack formal documentation as they were donated without legal records decades, and sometimes, even centuries ago.

Questions about title

Other changes could impact historic mosques, whose land is often held in centuries-old waqfs.

Hindu radical groups have targeted mosques across the country and laid claim to several of them, arguing they are built on the ruins of important Hindu temples. Many such cases are pending in courts.

The law would require waqf boards to seek approval from a district-level officer to confirm waqfs' claims to property.

Critics say that would undermine the board and could lead to Muslims being stripped of their land. It's not clear how often the boards would be asked to confirm such claims to land.

Fears among Muslims

While many Muslims agree that waqfs suffer from corruption, encroachments and poor management, they also fear that the new law could give India's Hindu nationalist government far greater control over Muslim properties, particularly at a time when attacks against the minority communities have become more aggressive under Modi, with Muslims often targeted for everything from their food and clothing styles to inter-religious marriages.

Last month, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom said in its annual report that religious freedom conditions in India continued to deteriorate while Modi and his party "propagated hateful rhetoric and disinformation against Muslims and other religious minorities" during last year's election campaign.

Modi's government says India is run on democratic principles of equality and no discrimination exists in the country.

Muslims, which make 14% of India's 1.4 billion population, are the largest minority group in the Hindu-majority nation but they are also the poorest, a 2013 government survey found.