Rahul Gandhi Claims Waqf Bill Attacks Muslims, Sets Dangerous Precedent for Other Communities

Rahul Gandhi Claims Waqf Bill Attacks Muslims: Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, alleged on Saturday that the "Waqf Bill attacks Muslims" and "sets a precedent to target other communities in the future."

In one of the posts on the microblogging site X, Gandhi wrote, "Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has widowed its attention now to the land of the Catholic Church after the passing of Waqf Bill" with a link to an article that made such claim.

"I had said that the Waqf Bill attacks Muslims now but sets a precedent to target other communities in the future," he wrote on X.

"It didn't take long for the RSS to turn its attention to Christians," the Congress leader wrote referring to the article.

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"The Constitution is the only shield that protects our people from such attacks -- and it is our collective duty to defend it," Gandhi wrote.

Congress leader KC Venugopal too shared another article pointing to Catholic Church surpassing Waqf Board in landholdings and said, "As predicted, first one minority targeted, now onto the next."

The article 'Who Has More Land in India? The Catholic Church vs Waqf Board Debate' published on April 3 says in the mouthpiece of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Organiser says: "For many years, there has been a common belief that the Waqf Board is the second largest landowner in India after the government, however, this claim does not align with the actual data on land ownership in the country. The Catholic Church of India holds the distinction of being the largest non-governmental landowner, possessing vast tracts of land spread across the country."

The article further informed that the Catholic Church is in possession of around 17.29 crore acres (i.e. about 7 crore hectares) of land in the whole country.

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"The total estimated value of these properties is around Rs 20,000 crore, making the Church a significant player in India's real estate landscape. As of 2012, the Catholic Church has 2,457 hospital dispensaries, 240 medical or nursing colleges, 28 general colleges, 5 engineering colleges, 3,765 secondary schools, 7,319 primary schools and 3,187 nursery schools in the field of education and healthcare sector in the country. Much of its land was acquired during British rule. In 1927, the British administration passed the Indian Church Act, facilitating large-scale land grants to the Church," it said.

The Organiser article also pointed to a major contention: whether some of the lands have been obtained through questionable means. It also alleged: "Many reports suggest that Church-run schools and hospitals lure economically disadvantaged people by providing free low-cost services, and in turn, pressure them to convert into Christianity.

"Several instances have emerged where landowners from tribal and rural communities were encouraged - or in some cases coerced - into converting to Christianity, after which their lands were taken over by Church-affiliated organisations. While the Church denies these allegations, multiple cases of illegal land acquisitions linked to conversion activities have surfaced in various states, fuelling concerns about the role of missionary institutions in India's socio-religious landscape. Several cases have surfaced where tribal lands, once belonging to indigenous communities, were gradually transferred to Church authorities under various pretexts," the article went on to say.

This becomes important with respect to the ongoing debate on the Waqf bill which was subsequently passed by both Houses of Parliament. Are these churches in Kerala set to come in the line of RSS' barrage next? We will have to wait and see.

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