Guwahati, April 9: The All Assam Minority Students’ Union (AAMSU) staged a major protest at the Sachal Designated Dharna Ground in Guwahati on Wednesday, denouncing the recently passed Waqf Amendment Bill, 2025 as a direct attack on Muslim religious rights and constitutional freedoms.
More than 300 AAMSU activists gathered at the protest site, raising slogans against the BJP-led NDA government, accusing it of targeting Muslim religious institutions under the guise of reform. The protest was led by AAMSU president Rejaul Karim Sarkar, chief advisor Ainuddin Ahmed, legal advisor Mustafa Khaddam Hussain, working president Imtiaz Hussain, and general secretaries Minnatul Islam and Kuddus Ali Sarkar.
In a strongly worded memorandum submitted to President Droupadi Murmu, AAMSU outlined its objections to several “contentious and dangerous” provisions in the Bill. The organization said the new amendments threaten the very existence of waqf properties, which are considered sacred under Islamic tradition and law.
The memorandum stated the provision allowing waqf to be undone by long-term usage is seen as a backdoor to grab community-owned land and the new limitation period could result in widespread loss of waqf land.
The AAMSU claims this is an intrusion into a religiously-governed institution and violates the community’s autonomy. The Bill empowers bureaucrats to determine the status of waqf land, bypassing judicial and community-based mechanisms. Five-year restriction on reversion of property by Muslim converts: The memorandum argues that this violates the individual’s right to religious freedom and property disposal.
“This is not reform. This is state-sponsored expropriation dressed as legality,” AAMSU said. The group alleged that the true intention of the amendments is to convert waqf land into government-owned property or transfer it to private corporations under state patronage.
“This arbitrary and autocratic legislation is designed to weaken minority institutions, disrespect religious sentiments, and hollow out the constitutional guarantees given to India’s Muslims,” the memorandum stated.
The AAMSU also turned its fire on the Assam state government, accusing it of systemic discrimination. The student body alleged that while landless minorities continue to be denied land rights, the government has granted land pattas to lakhs of individuals from other communities through initiatives like Mission Basundhara.
“The same government that failed to protect evicted families and left them without homes, health care, schools, clean drinking water, or basic roads now wants to take away even their waqf lands,” the statement added. “This is nothing short of institutionalized cruelty.”
AAMSU called for the immediate rollback of the Waqf Amendment Bill and demanded a halt to policies that “dehumanize and marginalize” minority communities in the name of development or administrative reform.
The protest ended with a vow to intensify the agitation across Assam if the government fails to address the concerns raised by the minority community and uphold constitutional protections.
