Mangaluru: In what is being described as one of the largest gatherings by the Muslim community in Karnataka in recent years, more than one lakh people congregated at the Shah Convention Centre in Adyar, Mangaluru, on Thursday to protest against the recently enacted Waqf Amendment Act, 2025. Organised by the Karnataka State Ulema Coordination Committee, the rally drew participants and clerics from across the state and neighbouring Kerala.

The protestors raised strong objections to several provisions of the amended law, which they alleged erode the autonomy of Waqf institutions and could lead to large-scale loss of community-held properties.

Speaking at the rally, SheikullahTaqwaUstad, president of the coordination committee, said, “This amendment is not merely a legal issue—it signals a deeper attempt to weaken the Waqf system and marginalise the community’s institutions. While we have faced challenges in the past, the scale and implications this time are more alarming.”

He clarified that the demonstration was not targeted against any religious community or the country. “Our protest is a constitutional appeal to safeguard Waqf assets meant for social, educational, and religious purposes. We must uphold India’s democratic and pluralistic ethos even as we stand firm in asserting our rights,” he said.

Former secretary of the Karnataka Waqf Board, ShafiSaeedi, described the amendment as part of a political design to dilute the community’s institutional foundations. “Our cause is just and we believe the Supreme Court will acknowledge that when it delivers its verdict on May 5,” he said. Drawing a historical parallel, he cited the community’s united stand during the Shah Bano case in 1985.

At the heart of the opposition are Sections 3K, 14, and 40 of the amended Act, which the protestors say enable the government to reclassify Waqf properties—including mosques, Idgahs, cemeteries, and madrasas—as government-owned. They also raised concerns over the reported reduction of Waqf landholdings across the country—from 36 lakh acres to 9 lakh acres—and questioned the new structure of the Waqf Board, under which only four of the eleven members would be Muslims, with other seats filled by government nominees and two Hindu representatives.

“Is there any such parallel in the governance of other religious institutions in India?” one of the speakers asked, calling the move discriminatory.Some speakers also alleged that influential Muslim sects such as the Bohra and Aga Khani communities were being pressured not to oppose the legislation. In a sharp remark, ShafiSaeedi referenced the Ambani residence in Mumbai, claiming it once stood on Waqf land. “Will bulldozers go there too?” he asked.

Although the event was largely peaceful, traffic on National Highway 75 came to a standstill as crowds spilled out of the overflowing convention centre onto the roadside. Organisers repeatedly appealed to the youth to maintain order and abide by the Karnataka High Court’s direction to the Mangaluru police to ensure unhindered vehicular movement.

Muslim clerics and scholars from several districts—including Kolar, Chitradurga, Udupi, Kasargod, Kannur, Hassan, Chikkamagaluru, and Uttara Kannada—were in attendance, signalling a broad-based mobilisation around the issue.

The event concluded with a reaffirmation of the community’s commitment to constitutional means of protest and legal redress, as leaders called upon the government to reconsider the provisions of the amended Act in consultation with all stakeholders.