People’s Democratic Party (PDP) supremo Mehbooba Mufti has claimed that Jammu and Kashmir lost over 7,000 registered Waqf properties in a year, terming it as the “latest blow” against Muslims. However, Mufti’s charge has been dismissed by Waqf Board Chairperson Daraksha Andrabi who called it as ‘politically motivated’ statement.
Pertinently, almost all Regional parties view the new (amendment) law as interference in religious autonomy, while the government maintains it ensures transparency and development for the Muslim community. The J&K Waqf properties row involves political opposition to the central government's Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, new digital registration requirements, and accusations of missing properties.
The PDP chief on Friday took to X, “Over 3.55 lakh Waqf properties are missing nationwide, with Jammu and Kashmir alone losing 7,240 entries in the new UMEED database. She contended these gaps raise serious questions about transparency and protection of Waqf assets.”
“With a pattern of violence, demolitions and disenfranchisement, the erosion of Waqf land feels like the latest blow against the Muslims. Where does this end?” she added.The former chief minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir also shared data of the registered Waqf properties across the country as on December 7.
According to the data shared by her in the post, Jammu and Kashmir had 32,533 registered properties on December 9, 2024, while it decreased by 7,240 to 25,293 on December 7, this year. The J&K Waqf Board chairperson, Darakhshan Andrabi (a BJP leader), has always been defending the Act, stating it will help poor Muslims and ensure transparency. The Central government has also clarified it will not seize legitimate Waqf properties.
Even as the Supreme Court is hearing pleas challenging the validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, and has stayed certain provisions that allowed for arbitrary changes to property records, it is the lack of functional Waqf tribunals in J&K means aggrieved parties must approach the High Court for redressal, which remains challenging for many.
The fact on the ground remains that Jammu and Kashmir Waqf Board has successfully registered 25,046 Waqf properties on Centre's UMEED portal during the six-month upload window that closed on December 6.Data shows that out of the total 25,293 Waqf properties initiated by the Union Territory's Waqf Board, 25,046 (99.02%) were approved, 31 were rejected, while 216 were in the 'initiation process' on the Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development Act, 1995 (UMEED) central portal.
As many 364 properties (in addition to the 25,293) could not be verified and uploaded as they fall in the restricted areas along the Line of Control (LoC), Waqf Board officials said.Pertinently, the overall number of properties is short by 7,213 when compared to the data shared in Parliament in 2022. In February that year, the then union minister for minority affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi in a written reply in Rajya Sabha said that Jammu and Kashmir has 32,506 properties which were then registered on WAMSI (Waqf Assets Management System of India) portal, the predecessor of UMEED.
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