Srinagar: CPI(M) Central Committee Member and legislator M Y Tarigami, on Monday said the discussion of the Waqf Amendment Act should have been allowed in the recently concluded J&K Assembly Session.
He alleged that the Waqf Amendment Act is an assault on the rights of Muslims.
Addressing a press conference in Srinagar, Tarigami accused the BJP-led government of singling out Muslim institutions under the guise of reform.
The CPI, he added, passed a resolution on the Waqf Amendment Act at the CPI Party Congress in Tamil Nadu, condemning the move as “unconstitutional and an attack on minority rights”.
“In the resolution, the party said the new law, which allows non-Muslims to intervene in Waqf matters, amounts to direct interference in the religious affairs of the Muslim community,” Tarigami said.
He questioned why reforms are being directed solely at Muslim-managed Waqf properties, when many other institutions across communities could also be restructured.
“This is a clear violation of the constitutional right to manage one’s religious institutions,” he said.
Tarigami emphasized that Waqf, or Auqaf in Kashmir, is a centuries-old system wherein Muslim properties are dedicated to religious and community welfare.
He said that the new law erodes the autonomy of the Waqf Boards and grants external powers unwarranted influence.
CPI(M) leader said it was the rightful duty of legislators to raise questions about the Waqf Act in the J&K Assembly, emphasizing the growing public concern surrounding the issue.
“The people of the country and in Jammu and Kashmir are deeply worried about the implications of this Act. If there is no debate on such critical matters, what will happen? I said in the Assembly—and I repeat it today—that a debate should have been held,” Tarigami stated.
He stressed that legislators are elected not merely to raise their hands in agreement or dissent, but to represent the voices of the people and fight for justice.
“We have not been elected to silently comply. We have been chosen to speak up, to question, and to demand justice,” he asserted.
The veteran lawmaker further accused the BJP of systematically undermining the rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir since it assumed power.
The CPI(M) leader said that it was appropriate for legislators to ask questions on the Act in the Assembly.
“The people of the country and Jammu and Kashmir are concerned over the Act. If there is no debate, then what will happen? I have said in the Assembly that there should have been a debate, and I repeat it today,” Tarigami said.
He said they have been chosen by the people and not to only raise our hands and say yes or no.
“We have been chosen by the people to speak up and to demand justice,” he said.
The veteran legislator accused the BJP of constantly assaulting the rights of people of Jammu and Kashmir ever since it came to power in 2014.
Referring to the events of August 5, 2019, when J&K Special Status was abrogated, CPI(M) leader Tarigami said that the constitutional rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir were “snatched away” on that day.
“Our relationship with the rest of the country was assaulted, and we were effectively detached from the Constitution,” he said.
Tarigami asserted that the revocation of Article 370 marked the beginning of a series of continuous attacks on the region’s political, democratic, and socio-economic rights.
UNI
