Quoting the examples of Fatehpur Sikri in Agra and Atala Masjid in Jaunpur, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) told a Parliamentary panel that having protected monuments which are also notified as Waqf property give rise to conflicts and administrative issues. The ASI made this argument during its submission to a joint committee holding consultations on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024.
Contesting this claim, Opposition members of the committee argued that no monument is arbitrarily appropriated by the Waqf Board without historical evidence supporting their ownership, noting that the ASI’s own governing legislation — the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act (AMASR Act) — equips the organisation to deal with such cases.
The ASI shared a list of 53 protected monuments which have also been declared as Waqf property by the Waqf Board, using the Waqf Act, 1995. Such “dual authorities” create conflict, ASI officials said. They underlined that many of these properties have been categorised as Waqf only after they were declared as protected sites.
‘Conservation restricted’
According to sources, the ASI complained that its staff has been restricted from carrying out “conservation” work in such monuments. ASI officials also accused the Board of carrying out “several additions and alterations” to the original structure of these protected monuments, hampering the “authenticity and integrity” of such structures.
They listed the examples of the Atala Masjid in Jaunpur where shops were built into the enclosure, and Mecca Masjid in Ahmednagar, where fittings and fixtures were installed without the ASI’s permission. They also cited the case of Fatehpur Sikri, where officials claimed that the Waqf is directly appointing tour guides, replacing the ASI-certified guides.
Balancing rights, preservation
These ASI charges were contested by a number of Opposition members. All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) MP Asadduddin Owaisi, it is learnt, pointed out that the ASI is deliberately ignoring the very framework of laws that it operates under. The AMASR Act, he argued, provides for balancing private property rights to protected monuments with the public purpose of preservation.
Other members countered by saying that no property can be declared as a Waqf arbitrarily without historical evidence of “Waqf by user”. The new law, they said, is trying to do away with this very clause of “Waqf by user” which will throw open all Waqf properties for multiple claims.
ASI officials were also cornered by the ruling BJP’s MPs, who asked them why the organisation had failed to act in instances listed by them where the Waqf status allegedly threatened the integrity and authenticity of the protected structures.
Published - September 06, 2024 09:38 pm IST
