Demolition of 100-year-old mosque exposes vulnerabilities in India’s waqf system

As India’s parliament prepares to debate amendments to the Waqf Act, Muslim groups and legal experts point to January’s demolition of a century-old mosque in Ujjain as evidence of the growing vulnerability of Islamic religious properties across the country.

In January, authorities in Ujjain, a city in the BJP-governed state of Madhya Pradesh, bulldozed nearly 250 properties, including homes, shops and the historic Takiya Mosque, to clear 2.1 hectares (5.27 acres) of land for the $1 billion Mahakal Corridor project surrounding the city’s famous Mahakaleshwar Temple.

Waqf Properties: India’s third-largest land holdings

The land belonged to the Madhya Pradesh Waqf Board. “Waqf” refers to properties donated by Muslims for religious or charitable purposes, making such transfers irrevocable and prohibiting sale and other uses.

“The acquisition is a direct violation of the Waqf Act,” said lawyer Sohail Khan, who has challenged the Ujjain takeover in court.

With more than 872,000 properties spanning nearly 405,000 hectares (1 million acres) valued at approximately $14.22 billion, India has the largest number of waqf assets in the world. Waqf boards are the country’s largest urban landowners and third-largest overall, after the army and railways.

Critics allege state officials ignored a 1985 government document establishing the Ujjain site as a Muslim graveyard with a mosque large enough for 2,000 devotees. The demolition is widely viewed as part of preparations for Kumbh 2028, a Hindu pilgrimage expected to draw millions.

The Modi cabinet’s draft Waqf (Amendment) Bill proposes 14 amendments, including the appointment of non-Muslims as waqf board members and mandatory registration of waqf properties with district administrations.

“This is the beginning of capturing land of mosques and dargahs. History will not forgive us,” said Sanjay Singh, an opposition parliamentarian on the Joint Parliamentary Committee reviewing the bill.

Revenue records show systematic discrepancies

While the government paid 330 million rupees ($3.8 million) as compensation to those whose properties were demolished, Sanawar Patel, chairman of the Madhya Pradesh Waqf Board and a BJP leader, did not oppose the acquisition or claim compensation.

“I would do what the party orders because I am here because of the party,” Patel told Al Jazeera.

Legal experts and activists cite a decades-old pattern of deliberate dispossession of waqf properties across India. According to a public interest litigation filed by Ujjain lawyer Aashar Warsi, out of 1,014 waqf assets in Ujjain per the 1985 gazette, 368 are incorrectly listed as government-owned, 454 as private, and 192 have incomplete or missing records.

“The mismatch of waqf land records with revenue records is a common phenomenon across the country that is feeding the encroachers,” said Supreme Court lawyer Mehmood Pracha.

Patel claims the amendments aim “to root out the existing problems and fix the anomalies,” but critics see a government move to gain legal control over valuable waqf properties.

“With growing population, the values of lands are skyrocketing,” Pracha said. “Since waqf boards own massive properties on prime places across India, the government, by using the latest amendment, wants to get control over these lands in one go.”