Srinagar, Aug 9 (Reporter) A day after the NDA government referred the Waqf Amendment Bill, 2024, to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), Hurriyat Conference Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said that if the government goes ahead with the amendments, it will be resisted by the Muslims of Jammu and Kashmir. He warned that the proposed amendments have the potential of disempowerment of Muslims and interference in religious matters. Addressing the Friday congregation at historic Jamia mosque in Srinagar, he called for vigilance and resistance against “ discriminatory” laws. “Government of India introduced a Bill in the Parliament seeking to amend the Waqf Act, and bring sweeping changes to how Waqfs are governed and regulated , causing great anguish and concern to the Muslims in India and naturally in Muslim majority Jammu & Kashmir where most of our mosques shrines , Khanqas come under the waqf board,” Mirwaiz who is also the Kashmir’s chief cleric said. He said that many controversial provisions have been proposed , including changing the composition of the board . “Non Muslims will now be made part of the board and a non Muslim can even be made the CEO of board , which is a direct interference in religious matter,” the Hurriyat Conference Chairman said . Mirwaiz said that in the proposed bill one has to be a Muslim for at least five years to waqf his/ her property which is ridiculous . “Further a district collector will now make the decision in case of dispute on the final status of the wakf land -whether it is wakf property or government land. And since this government has come to power many disputes have been raked around mosques, and till the dispute is settled the land will be deemed to be government land,” he added . “It also wants to remove the concept of “waqf by use “ . Hundreds of waqf mosques are centuries old and some don’t have documents to prove it , all those will then be deemed to be on government land,” Mirwaiz said. He said , unfortunately the agenda of this government seems to “persist in disempowering Muslims” and use them as “polarising agents” for electoral purposes . “As Muslims we need to remain alert to these tactics and to safeguard our interests as much as we can . If the government goes ahead with these discriminatory laws it will be resisted by the Muslims of JK,” he said. Mirwaiz said that they are closely monitoring this issue and will take it up in the next meeting of Mutahida Majlis-e-Ulema (MMU )- a conglomerate of religious bodies in Kashmir representing different schools of thought...////...