Amritsar- State Spokesperson of Bharatiya Janata Party Prof. Sarchand Singh Khiala said that under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, by passing the Waqf Amendment Bill 2025 in both the Houses of Parliament, India has taken a historic step towards social justice. Now, with its enactment into law, the oppression and corruption against the common people in the name of Waqf, which has become a ‘state within a state’, will be eliminated and more transparency, accountability and improvement will be made in the work of Waqf by modernizing the Waqf administration.Prof. Sarchand Singh said that the Waqf Amendment Bill is a matter of national interest, there is no interference in the religious matters of Islam or mosques etc., so there is no question of hurting anyone’s religious sentiments. He questioned the Congress that if this bill is an attack on the basic structure of the Constitution, then on what basis has the Congress made the relevant Act in 1995 and other amendments to this Act in 2013? He said that the loopholes left deliberately by the Congress governments of the time have now been removed, the Congress had given full freedom to the Waqf to grab anyone’s property. In the earlier case, the decisions of the Tribunal on matters related to Waqf were final, which could not be challenged in any civil court, but now the Tribunal decisions will be appealable in the civil courts.
Prof. Sarchand Singh said that now the participation of not only Shias and Sunnis but also Muslim backward classes and women has been ensured in the Waqf Board. Talking about the Waqf Act made by the Congress governments, he said that till now if the Waqf declares someone’s land as its property, then the onus of proving it was not on the Waqf but on the actual owner of the land, to prove how his land does not belong to the Waqf. All the documents and evidence had to be given to the claimant. He said that everyone should get equal rights. But for the majority of Hindus there is a secular law, but for Muslims the religious law is ‘Muslim Personal Law’, which includes exemption from polygamy and violation of women’s rights like triple talaq. He said that vote polarization was the thinking of the Congress, which Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh also said that the first right over the country’s resources belongs to the minorities, especially Muslims, and the 2024 Congress election manifesto talked about distributing the property of Hindus among Muslims.
Prof. Sarchand Singh described Akali Dal Badal MP Biba Harsimrat Kaur Badal’s remarks against BJP in the Lok Sabha as politically motivated, he said that Sikhs are neither under any threat from the central government nor the SGPC, in fact, the threat is definitely to the Badals’ political career. He said that there is no threat to the Sikh community and religion or identity, Akali leaders should refrain from creating a rift between Hindus and Sikhs. Biba Badal is speaking the language of Congress and India Bloc by making baseless allegations against BJP. There should have been no attempt to create bitterness between different communities. Neither the central government wants to usurp the Waqf properties nor does it want to distribute them as per its wishes. All this is being done for justice and the welfare of the Muslim community. He said that Mrs. Badal should know that there is no non-Sikh member in the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, the religious body of Sikhs, then there was no point in making a statement about the nomination of Muslims in the managing committee of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
Prof. Sarchand Singh took a dig at Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee President Harjinder Singh Dhami for calling the Waqf Amendment Bill affecting minorities and direct interference in religious matters. He questioned Sardar Dhami’s call of Uniform Civil Code as an attempt to suppress minorities and said that does not Gurbani give equal status and message to everyone? UCC is a civil code, not a religious code, due to which there can be no threat to the religious beliefs, existence and identity of different communities, nor can there be any harm to religious customs, values, traditions and culture. Uniform citizenship is definitely a concrete step towards strengthening national unity.
Prof. Sarchand Singh gave a strong reply to the question raised by the SGPC President regarding the government making rules for Sikh soldiers to wear ‘helmets’ and said that they need to avoid misleading the Sikh community on the issue of the proposed helmet, ‘combat headgear’. In the Sikh tradition, there has been a tradition of wearing ‘iron helmets’ during war or on the battlefield, about which authentic references are found. There is evidence about the historical prevalence of steel helmets in the writing of the Panth approved Bhai Rattan Singh Bhangu ‘Pracheen Panth Prakash’. Where, while describing a battle, it is clearly written, ‘Sukha Singh bhi Sanjoy mangayo.. Dast dastane sir top tikayoo..’