OPINION | Waqf issue: Who is trying to polarise Muslims?-OxBig News Network

In a move aimed at polarisation of Muslim votes ahead of Bihar assembly elections, opposition parties including Congress, RJD, AIMIM, Left and Prashant Kishor’s newly formed Jan Suraaj Party attended a rally organized by All India Muslim Personal Law Board to oppose the Waqf Amendment Bill. A call was given to all Muslims to “boycott” those political parties like JD(U), LJP, TDP, if they support the Bill in Parliament during voting. Muslims were asked not to accept “Saugaat-e-Modi” Eid gift hampers being distributed by BJP. At an iftar party hosted by Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, state minister Mohammed Zama Khan alleged that some Islamic clerics are trying to mislead Muslims on the Waqf issue. At the rally, most of the clerics warned that Muslims will “lose control over graves, mosques and madarsas” if the Waqf Bill was passed. The organizers announced that the next protest rally will be held in Vijaywada in Andhra Pradesh on March 29. The question is: why was this anti-Waqf Bill rally held in Patna? Those who participated did not hide their political motives. They clearly said that Islamic clerics opposing this law had gone there to “intimidate” Nitish Kumar and his allies Jitanram Manjhi and Chirag Paswan. They had gone to Patna to convey the threatening message that if these leaders did not oppose the Bill and snap ties with BJP, Muslims will not vote for them. More than 18 per cent of voters in Bihar are Muslims. There are 47 out of a total of 243 assembly seats where Muslim vote is the deciding factor. For Nitish Kumar, the combination of Maha Dalits and Muslims had been working successfully in Bihar over the years. Muslims had been supporting Nitish Kumar’s party despite his alliance with BJP. This is the reason why Nitish Kumar, Jitanram Manjhi and Chirag Paswan paid little attention to this threat. On the other hand, BJP leaders are trying to convince Muslims that the Waqf matter is an issue related to only a handful of rich Muslims, and poor Muslims have nothing to do with Waqf properties. The fire is raging from both sides and till the time elections are over in Bihar, this issue may continue to reverberate.

Punjab’s census on drug addiction: A welcome step

Punjab will hold its first-ever census on drug addiction. The state government will collect data on drug addiction, de-addiction centres and socio-economic status of those families affected. Rs 150 crore has been earmarked in the state budget presented in the Assembly. Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, while presenting the budget, said, this will help the government to prepare an effective strategy to root out drug addiction. The state government will recruit 5,000 home guards to stop smuggling of drugs from Pakistan. Any action against drug mafia in Punjab is a welcome step. This should have been done long back. Last week, Home Minister Amit Shah made some disclosures about drug seizures. These are astonishing. He gave a comparison of drug seizures during UPA rule from 2004 to 2014, and during NDA rule from 2014 till 2025. He said, during Congress’ 10-year rule 25 lakh kilograms of drugs worth Rs 40,000 crore were seized, while in the last ten years, more than a crore kilograms of drugs worth Rs 1.5 lakh crore have been seized. Amit Shah said, this was possible because the investigation procedure has now changed during BJP rule. During Congress rule, Shah said, 3.36 lakh kg drugs were burnt, while during BJP rule, 31 lakh kg drugs were burnt. The Home Minister said, during Congress rule, 1.73 lakh cases were filed against drug peddlers, while in the last 10 years, 6.56 lakh cases were filed. It is not a matter of statistics. In the new policy being implemented by Amit Shah, drugs buyer is now considered a victim, while drugs peddler is considered a culprit. Earlier, people from whom drugs were seized, used to be arrested, but presently, those selling or supplying drugs are arrested. I think, this is a welcome change which should be applauded.

Why police delayed action in Judge’s cash case?

On instructions from the three-judge inhouse inquiry panel appointed by Supreme Court, a team of Delhi Police on Wednesday sealed the storeroom in Justice Yashwant Varma’s official residence, 12 days after half-burnt currency notes were found after a fire incident. The police team made a video of the storeroom before sealing it. When Delhi Police entered the judge’s residence and sealed the storeroom, one question that everyone asked was why police delayed in sealing the room. One must understand the compulsions of police in such matters. The hands of police are tied when matters relate to taking action against any judge. This curb was imposed by Justice Venkatachaliah in 1994, when it was clearly instructed that police can neither file an FIR against any judge, nor file a case. If the judge belongs to High Court, then police must take prior permission from the HC Chief Justice, and if the judge belonged to Supreme Court, permission must be sought from the Chief Justice of India. There are other curbs too in matters relating to judges. As per rules, police cannot arrest a judge, nor can it record a judge’s statement, or prepare a ‘panchnama’ (recovery list) or carry out a medical test, without the presence of his legal adviser, and that too, unless permission is given. To put it briefly, a police officer will have to think ten times before taking any action against a judge. The police officer has to take permission from the judiciary. When half-burnt currency notes were found from the judge’s residence on March 14, only a video of some burnt notes were shown. Police could not do anything else at the spot. Neither could it take any statement, nor could it prepare a ‘panchnama’. The action of sealing of store room was done by police only after it got instructions from the SC-appointed three-judge inquiry panel. This was done only to help the panel in its probe. How can police be blamed for this delay?

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