India deploys troops after deadly protests over Muslim endowment bill

Indian authorities have deployed troops to crack down on deadly protests in the eastern state of West Bengal over a recently passed controversial bill that critics say would dilute the rights of Muslims to manage religious endowments (waqf) worth more than $14bn.

Protests over the federal Waqf amendment bill in West Bengal’s Muslim-majority Murshidabad district escalated on Friday and Saturday, resulting in three deaths and the arrests of more than 150 people, according to The Times of India newspaper.

The daily said on Sunday that the Calcutta High Court had ordered the “immediate” deployment of the paramilitary Border Security Force (BSF) to the area. Karni Singh, inspector general of the BSF’s South Bengal Frontier division, said forces were sent to “help” local police, not for “independent action”.

The bill, which amended a 1995 law on governing waqf or Muslim properties donated for religious or charitable purposes, was passed earlier this month after heated debates in both houses of Parliament.

Waqf refers to personal property – movable or immovable – that is permanently donated by Muslims for religious or charitable purposes. However, the inclusion of non-Muslims in managing the waqf properties has caused concern among Muslims, who say the federal government led by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is discriminating against them, as other religious groups are still allowed to manage faith-based institutions.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP claims the amendments are aimed at bringing transparency and fighting corruption and mismanagement in waqf governance.

But Muslims fear that changes to the 1995 law could leave waqf properties, including historic mosques, shops, shrines, graveyards and thousands of acres of land, vulnerable to confiscation, dispute and demolition.

The opposition says it is an attack on India’s Muslim minority, who form some 15 percent of India’s 1.4 billion people, guaranteed in India’s secular constitution.

Opposition Congress Party leader Rahul Gandhi has said the bill is “aimed at Muslims today but sets a precedent to target other communities in the future”.

Religious polarisation

Modi’s decade as prime minister has seen him cultivate an image as an aggressive champion of the country’s majority Hindu faith and reports show religious polarisation has helped his party gain electoral benefits.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee appealed for calm on Saturday, saying her government would not implement the bill in the state – home to 25 million Muslims. “This law will not be applicable in our state. So why the riot?” she said in a post on X.

Banerjee, who leads the regional Trinamool Congress (TMC) party, pleaded with her constituents “not to engage in any non-religious behaviour in the name of religion”, promising legal action against participants.

BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari, the leader of the opposition in West Bengal, claimed on X that more than 400 Hindus had fled Murshidabad because of “religious persecution”, blasting Banerjee’s government for emboldening “radical elements” and “allowing this breakdown of law & order”.

TMC MP Saugata Roy told The Times of India that Banerjee had called a meeting to pacify the Muslim community. “People’s sentiments are agitated over the Waqf Bill. The reaction was spontaneous,” he said.