The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has declared a nationwide protest against the Waqf Act. The AIMPLB stated that during the nationwide demonstrations, people will be made aware of the law. Meetings and gatherings will be held, and campaigns will be conducted through social media. The board announced that on September 19th, the day of Juma, sermons will be delivered in mosques on the importance of Waqf and the implications and concerns of the recently passed Waqf Amendment Act. Prayers for the restoration of Waqf will also be offered. A demonstration will be held on October 11th at Jantar-Mantar in Delhi, followed by arrests.
On October 3rd, from 8 am to 2 pm, Muslims have been appealed to close their businesses and offices, although medical stores will remain open. A massive protest rally will be organized on November 16th at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi, with efforts to ensure that millions of people from across the country participate. A large number of people will be invited to this event, including prominent personalities from the country, along with political leaders, members of civil society, and minority leaders who will also be among the speakers. Booklets will be prepared, with the title “We do not accept the Waqf Amendment Act,” in Hindi, English, and Urdu, as well as all regional languages. Press conferences will be held in Delhi and all state capitals. One will include members of the board, and the second will be a joint press conference, with other minority and civil society members. Extensive round table meetings will be held with the public. An effort will be made to do this in every major city of each state. Prominent figures of non-Muslims, political leaders, civil society leaders, and representatives of minorities will participate in these round table meetings. Joint sessions will be held with various religious leaders on the issue of protecting the properties and institutions of all religions’ Waqf.
A social media campaign will be launched. A 15-minute video clip will be posted every week on Facebook, Instagram, and Telegram. This will include speeches by the leaders of the board’s central responsible organizations and the regional coordinators of the board. Video clips of speeches by regional responsible people of Muslim organizations will be attempted to be posted in Bengali, Gujarati, Telugu, Punjabi, Kannada, Malayalam, and Tamil languages, which will be prepared very professionally.
Waqf marches will be taken out – on different days in Delhi and the capitals of the states, a 3 to 5 kilometer march will be taken out. In Delhi, this march will start from Rashtrapati Bhavan and this march will go to the Raj Bhavan in the states. Those participating will hold placards and banners in front. This march will be taken out in an extremely peaceful and serious manner. Only pre-determined slogans will be raised in a dignified manner. At the end of the march, a memorandum will be submitted to the President and Governors. The date of the march will be decided after the interim decision of the Supreme Court.
A delegation of board and Muslim organizations’ officials, led by the state convenor, will meet the Chief Minister on October 16 and give a memorandum to the Chief Ministers. A letter will be written by the board chairman to all Auqaf trustees and the presidents of the State Auqaf Boards. Members of the board and officials of Muslim organizations will arrange to deliver it to the trustees of each city and each area. From November 1st to November 8th, a campaign will be launched at a war footing for the improvement of all Waqf properties. The state unit of the board will prepare a team of youth in each city of its state, which will also include lawyers. A Waqf desk will be set up by putting up banners including the announcement at a designated place, and the trustees will be requested to bring all the documents of their Waqf properties and get them checked. If anyone does not have any documents, experts will guide them. A team of lawyers will be prepared in each district and state for the improvement of Waqf properties. For the training of this team, a training workshop will be organized at the central level in Delhi on September 29th. After this, a training workshop will also be organized at the state level for the district and regional volunteers.