Union minority affairs minister Smriti Irani on Wednesday said that no Waqf Board in the country has the authority to expel a person or a community from a religion. Her remark came amid a row over the Andhra Pradesh Waqf Board that passed a resolution terming the Ahmadiyya community as “kafirs'' and non-Muslims. "I only want to say that all Waqf Boards come under the Act of Parliament. No Waqf Board can act contrary to the dignity of Parliament and violate laws made by it. No Waqf Board has permission to change a fatwa into a government order,” Irani said.
On Tuesday, prominent Muslim organisation Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind backed the Andhra Pradesh Waqf Board’s stance on the Ahmadiyya community, claiming that this is the "unanimous position" of all Muslims.
"No Waqf Board has authority, under the Act of Parliament, that it expels a person or a community from a religion. We have sought a reply from the Andhra Pradesh chief secretary. We have requested him to put the facts before us because the Ahmadiyya Muslim community had appealed to the Minority Affairs Ministry," said the Union ministers speaking to reporters outside the Parliament, reported PTI.
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On Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind backing the stance, Irani said, “"No non-state actor has authority to violate an Act of Parliament."
The minority affairs ministry has written a strongly-worded letter to the Andhra Pradesh government, calling the board's resolution a "hate campaign", which "could have ramifications across the country".
"A representation dated 20.7.2023 has been received from the Ahmadiyya Muslim community, vide which it has been stated that certain Waqf Boards have been opposing the Ahmadiyya Community and passing illegal resolutions declaring the community to be outside the fold of Islam," said the letter sent to Chief Secretary Andhra Pradesh K S Jawahar Reddy.
Irani said she was awaiting the response of the state chief secretary.