Minority Affairs Minister Smriti Irani on Wednesday said no Waqf Board in the country has the authority to expel a person or a community from a religion, remarks that come amid a row over the Andhra Pradesh Waqf Board passing a resolution describing the Ahmadiyya community as non-Muslims.
Prominent Muslim organisation Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind on Tuesday backed the Andhra Pradesh Waqf Board's stance on the Ahmadiyya community, claiming that this is the "unanimous position" of all Muslims.
Asked about the issue, Ms. Irani said, "I only want to say that all Waqf Boards come under the Act of Parliament. No Waqf Board can act contrary to the dignity of Parliament and violate laws made by it. No Waqf Board has permission that it changes a fatwa into a government order." "No Waqf Board has authority, under the Act of Parliament, that it expels a person or a community from a religion. We have sought a reply from the Andhra Pradesh chief secretary. We have requested him to put the facts before us because the Ahmadiyya Muslim community had appealed to the Minority Affairs Ministry," she told reporters outside Parliament.
