'Congress will fix it in an hour': Imran Masood on Waqf Act

Hyderabad, April 13 (IANS) Terming the Waqf Amendment Act as ‘unconstitutional’, Congress MP Imran Masood on Sunday said that if Congress comes to power it would fix it within an hour.

“Pray that we come to power. I want to promise you when we come, we know how to fix this within an hour,” he said addressing a meeting organised here to oppose the Waqf Act.

Later, replying to a question from the media, he said that after coming to power democratically, the Congress would solve the problem in its own way.

“I want to ask you where will you offer namaz if there are no mosques, where will you bury your dead if there are no graveyards,” he asked participants at the meeting organized by the All India Milli Council Telangana and the All India Muslim Personal Law Board.

The Lok Sabha member from Saharanpur also gave an indirect call to leaders from other parties to join Congress, saying it alone can face the ‘storm in the sea’.

“When there is a storm in the sea, only a big ship can withstand it and not small boats. Therefore, leave the boats and be prepared to ride the ship. This is the only way. There is no other option,” he said.

The Congress MP said the BJP’s slogan of ‘400 paar remained’ a slogan and though Congress had crossed 400, it never trampled on the rights of any section of people. He said the Congress never gave a sense to any citizen that this country does not belong to him.

Imran Masood also stated that by voting against the Waqf Amendment Bill, 232 MPs slapped those who were spreading hatred in the country. “There are only 24 Muslim MPs but 232 MPs have voted to save Constitution,” he said.

On the Murshidabad violence, Imran Masood said that they were completely against violence.

The MP appealed to youth to not to do anything to take law into their hands. “This is the fight to save the Constitution, and if you go out of the legal limits, the fight will become meaningless,” he said.

He pointed out that the All India Muslim Personal Law Board has issued a nationwide call and Chairman Khalid Saifullah Rahmani has appealed to everyone to act in accordance with the law.

Imran Masood, who was also a member of the Joint Committee of Parliament on the Waqf Bill, has filed a petition in the Supreme Court, challenging the Waqf Act.

He argued that the amendment to the Waqf Act “strikes at the heart of India’s constitutional promise: that every community shall govern its faith, its institutions, and its property without fear of arbitrary state interference”.

--IANS

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