During an internal survey, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has found that 250 of its protected monuments are currently registered as waqf properties, The Indian Express has learnt.
The central agency is expected to put on record the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) examining the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, to take back their control.
Sources say the current list also includes several monuments listed in the 2006 Sachar Committee Report on the Social, Economic and Educational Status of the Muslim Community in India, which listed “Wakf properties in India in unauthorized possession of ASI”.
Although not all these 172 sites are protected monuments of national importance, some prominent sites in Delhi include Jama Masjid at Ferozshah Kotla, Chhoti Gumti Maqbara at RK Puram, Hauz Khas Mosque and Idgah. The memorials are spread across most parts of the country, sources say.
At the fourth meeting of the JPC in September, the ASI put the figure at 120. As a result, it sought reports from various circles and now the number has gone up to 250, sources said. The agency will tell the JPC how this creates a conflict in management and conservation work, and that many of these monuments were unilaterally registered by the Waqf Board as their property.
During the review of the amendment in the fourth meeting of the JPC in September, the ASI made a presentation on the issues related to waqf on protected monuments and sites and also explained the problems faced by the agency in terms of conservation and preservation of those monuments.
Another bone of contention between the ASI and the Waqf Board is going to be the one-sided nature of these disputes, it is learned. The Waqf Act 1995 empowers the Board to declare any property or building as Waqf property in the name of charity. Exercising this authority, the Board has issued notifications to declare protected monuments as waqf property resulting in conflict with the rights conferred under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act (AMASR) 1958.