Thousands turned up at the protest meeting against the new Waqf law called by the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) at the AIMIM’s headquarters, Darussalam, in Hyderabad on Saturday, April 19. Attendees thronged the streets of Nampally spilling out of the meeting grounds, holding flags and placards calling for a rollback of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, or the UMEED Act (Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development).
The protest meeting, which began around 7 pm and continued past 10 pm, saw participation not just from the AIMPLB and AIMIM but other political parties, including the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). Former Telangana Home Minister Mahmood Ali and DMK MP MM Abdulla were among the leaders who addressed the gathering and expressed support for the resistance against the law.
Raising the slogan of ‘Desh Bachao, Samvidhan Bachao, Waqf Bachao’, AIMIM president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi said that the new Waqf law was unconstitutional. He said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been attacking Muslims’ religious identity.
“Since coming to power in 2014, the BJP has framed the triple talaq law, then they tried to bring in the Citizenship Amendment Act based on religion, they have brought in anti-conversion laws in states where BJP is in power, and now they want to implement Uniform Civil Code to take away Shariat from us. For 11 years, [Prime Minister Narendra] Modi is only trying to attack Muslims’ religious identity. Instead of giving strength to Muslim women, his government has tried to take away their hijab. They have been bulldozing Muslims’ homes,” Owaisi said.
Owaisi called on the attendees to be prepared for a long, democratic agitation until the Waqf law is repealed, similar to the farmers’ protests that continued for over a year and resulted in the 2020 farm laws being repealed.
He asked people to join the demonstrations organised by the AIMPLB against the Waqf law in the coming weeks, including human chains and round-table meetings.
The concept of ‘Waqf’, rooted in Islamic laws and traditions, refers to an endowment made for charitable or religious purposes, such as mosques, schools, hospitals, or other public institutions.
Multiple petitions have been filed before the Supreme Court challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, which recently received Presidential assent after being passed by Parliament in early April.
The petitioners argue that the amendments violate fundamental rights guaranteed by the Indian Constitution. The Congress has termed the law an attack on the Constitution’s basic structure, aimed at dividing the country along religious lines.