VHP recommends a unified law for managing the religious properties

Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s recommendations to the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Waqf Act

VHP’s national spokesperson Vinod Bansal

New Delhi – In a letter to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) established to review the Waqf Amendment Act, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has recommended that a single law be enacted to manage the religious properties of all religions in the country, not exclusively for Muslims. The information was shared by VHP’s national spokesperson Vinod Bansal, through a press release.

Key Points from VHP’s letter to the JPC :

1. Waqf refers to the permanent dedication of any movable or immovable property to Allah as sacred, religious, or charitable. Once a property is dedicated, it becomes the property of the Almighty and remains under His control.

2. Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs also dedicate movable and immovable properties to their Deities for the maintenance of their places of worship or towards religious or charitable purposes.

3. Article 44 of the Indian Constitution provides for the State to endeavour to enact a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) for all citizens throughout India.

4. It is now time to consider having a single law for religious and charitable donations for every religion in India. Enacting laws solely for the religious and charitable donations of a specific religion goes against the Directive Principles of State Policy and is inappropriate.

5. Through its president, Alok Kumar, VHP has suggested to the Parliamentary Committee that instead of creating separate laws for the management and control of properties of different religious communities, a single law should be enacted for all religious properties across the country.