ASI says Waqf making claims on its monuments, oppn members criticise some of its claims

New Delhi: The ASI on Friday presented a list of over 120 monuments, which are officially under its protection but are claimed by different state Waqf boards, before the parliamentary panel examining the Waqf (Amendment) Act but drew criticism from the opposition members for its contention that these Muslim bodies can claim any property as theirs.

Sharp words were exchanged during the first session of the meeting between some of the opposition and the BJP members, and the Archaeological Survey of India faced piercing questions from both sides, sources said.

While the opposition members accused the Culture Ministry, which supervises the ASI and was represented by its secretary, of “misleading” the panel’s members and peddling “WhatsApp university” misinformation with its claim that Waqf Boards can declare ownership over any property.

Sources said the ASI’s presentation included a list of 53 monuments claimed by Waqf. Some of them were declared as Waqf properties almost a century after the ASI, whose history predates the country’s independence, announced them as protected monuments.

One such example on the list is the tomb of Ahmad Shah, a Nizam ruler, in Ahmednagar in Maharashtra, which the ASI declared as a protected monument in 1909 while it was declared a Waqf property in 2006.

Zakat Foundation of India and Interfaith Coalition for Peace represented by Syed Zafar Mahmood, who is president of both bodies, former Delhi LG Najeeb Jung, retired Lt General Zameer Uddin Shah, also a former AMU vice-chancellor, and Packiam Samuel also deposed before the Joint Committee of Parliament headed by veteran BJP MP Jagdambika Pal.

Telangana State Waqf Board appeared before the committee as well. All three bodies opposed the Bill, asserting that they are against the interest of the Muslim community, sources said.

In its presentation, the ASI also said different Waqf bodies have encroached on its monuments and raised constructions like madarsa and washrooms, to which some opposition members countered that these facilities are bound to be present in places of worship for the Muslims.

An opposition MP, sources said, accused the ASI of having unauthorised possession of 172 Waqf properties in Delhi alone, and said the Act guiding the national survey body does not allow it to change the religious character of any monument. He accused the ASI of displaying “political bias”, alleging that its treatment of Hindu religious places has been different.

The MPs, who attended the meeting of the Joint Committee of Parliament headed by BJP member Jagdambika Pal, included Nishikant Dubey, Brij Lal, Tejasvi Surya and Sanjay Jaiswal of the BJP, Gaurav Gogoi, Mohammad Jawed, Syed Naseer Hussain and Imran Masood of the Congress, TMC’s Kalyan Banerjee, AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi and AAP’s Sanjay Singh among others.