The Rajya Sabha cleared the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025 in the early hours of April 4 after a 14-hour long debate, paving the way for it to become a law after the President's nod. The Bill, which was passed in the Lok Sabha on April 3, has been a major point of contention between the BJP government and the Opposition.
Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on April 3 extended his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah on the bill's passage and accused the Waqf board of behaving like a mafia. He claimed that even while arrangements were being made for the 2025 Maha Kumbh Mela, the Waqf Board had said that the land where it was being held belonged to them.
"When we were making arrangements for the Maha Kumbh also, the Waqf Board had claimed that the land where the Kumbh was taking place in Prayagraj is Waqf land, forcing us to ask if the Waqf Board had turned into a land mafia," Yogi said in Hindi addressing an event in Prayagraj.
Waqf refers to charitable or religious donations by Muslims for the community's overall benefit. Under Islamic law and traditions, land, properties, assets, or wealth donated as waqf cannot be used for any other purpose, sold again, inherited or gifted. In 1954, Waqf Council and Boards were instituted at the centre and states, respectively, to better identify and manage Waqf properties. Over the years, many issues have come up owing to properties being allegedly declared as belonging to Waqf without enough documentation.
"We will not tolerate the wild claims of the Waqf Board on lands at historical places," Yogi also said at the gathering, adding, "We are grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah for putting a check on the Waqf Board and doing welfare work by passing this important act in the Lok Sabha. Today, it will be passed in the Rajya Sabha as well."
We also found several news reports and videos from January 5, a week before the 45-day Maha Kumbh Mela commenced in Prayagraj, which said that the Waqf Board had claimed that the Kumbh Mela ground was Waqf property. Even then, Adityanath had called the Waqf Board land mafias.
Between January 5 and 10, many articles, news segments on television and videos on social media had BJP leaders, including the UP chief minister, slamming the Waqf Board for claiming that the land where the Kumbh was going to be held fell under the Waqf Board. Here are some screenshots:
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Fact Check
When we read beyond the headlines, we noticed that the attribution of the claim to the Waqf Board was not clear. For instance, a Zee News report from January 5 first said that it was "local Muslims" (not the Board) who claimed that the land belonged to Waqf. From the report:
"Muslims in Prayagraj have claimed that the land where the Maha Kumbh Mela will be held is actually a property of the Waqf board. This claim, concerning the Maha Kumbh, has stirred controversy. Some Muslims further claimed that the land where the Akhadas are set up also belongs to the Waqf board."
However, in the very next paragraph, the claim was attributed to the Waqf board: "As per the claims, 54 bighas of land belongs to the Waqf board. The board has emphatically said that the entry for Muslims' in the land cannot be restricted, as it belongs to them."
It, however, did not quote any individual.
Most reports attributed the claim to 'Muslim cleric' Maulana Shahabuddin Razvi Barelvi, President of the Uttar Pradesh-based All India Muslim Jamat.
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Barelvi had made the claim in a video, which was shared by many on X. In the clip, Barelvi, responding to instances of Muslims not being allowed to enter the Maha Kumbh said, "One of the Muslims in Prayagraj, named Sartaj, informed that much of the land where the Mela arrangements are being made belongs to the Waqf and the Muslims there. It is the large-heartedness of Muslims there that they have not opposed any of these." In the caption, he also says that about 54 bighas belong to the Waqf Board.
First, Maulana Shahabuddin Razvi Barelvi is NOT formally associated with the Central Waqf Council or State Waqf Boards. Alt News reached out to him to clarify, and he told us that he was not linked to the Waqf Council or Board and that his comments were in individual capacity.
"Mera koi bhi taluk nahi hai Waqf Board se... Main ek independent body hun, ek mazhabi aadmi hun," Barelvi told Alt News. (I am not linked to the Waqf Board, I am independent and a deeply religious person.)
So, his claims cannot be equated to an official statement or claim by the Waqf Board.
Two, the cleric has also passed the buck and attributed the claim to a third person (Sartaj) whose credentials we do not know.
Also, around the time this controversy erupted, S M Yaseen, the joint secretary of Anjuman Intezamia Masjid, the Gyanvapi mosque management committee had sought clarification from the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board (UPSCWB), which denied it made any such claims.
"After a self-proclaimed cleric started spreading rumour that land in Prayagraj where Maha Kumbh had been organised for thousands of years belonged to the Waqf, I sought a reply on it from the UPSCWB and they had no had no information to corroborate the claim," Yaseen was cited as saying in a Times of India report from January 8. "UPSCWB chairman's reply confirms that the claim was nothing but baseless nonsense aimed at gaining cheap publicity," he added.
The "self-proclaimed cleric" Barelvi has stirred up controversies in the past by claiming that cricketer Mohammed Shami committed a sin by not fasting during Ramzan and issuing a "fatwa" to Muslims on celebrating New Year.
Thus, Yogi's claim that the Waqf Board asserted its ownership on land where the 2025 Maha Kumbh Mela was held is false. Nobody representing the Waqf Council or Boards made any such assertions. The claim was made by Islamic cleric Maulana Shahabuddin Razvi Barelvi, who has no association with the Waqf, according to his own admission to Alt News.
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Hello, my name is Ankit Sahu. I'm a 25 year old self-employed Pirate from the Chhindwara.