Erasing Identity Through Law
The passage of the new Waqf (Amendment) Act in India marks yet another dramatic chapter in the systematic erosion of Muslim minority rights, particularly in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). In what CPI(M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami has called a blatant assault on the community’s autonomy, the legislation strips Muslim religious institutions of control over their own endowments, transferring power to bureaucrats handpicked by the central government. What unfolds beneath the veneer of legal reform is a deliberate dismantling of socio-religious structures vital to the identity and stability of the Muslim community.
This amendment is not merely administrative—it is political. It tightens the central government’s grip on Muslim-owned waqf properties under the pretext of regulation, making it easier to appropriate these lands through official channels. The move is yet another addition to the long list of policies under the Modi government that seek to recalibrate the demographic and political balance in Kashmir by targeting the core of Muslim life: religious institutions, communal spaces, and economic assets. The aim is clear—disempower, displace, and dominate.
The Waqf Act’s revision is part of a broader trajectory that began with the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A in 2019, which dismantled constitutional protections and opened the region to external interference. These changes enabled non-locals to settle, acquire property, and compete for government jobs, a strategic blow to the Muslim-majority character of Kashmir. It disarmed the region of its political agency, replacing local self-governance with top-down control from New Delhi. This process of centralization is not an isolated occurrence; it is the blueprint of a settler-colonial strategy that uses law as a tool to engineer demographic shifts and erode native institutions.
Under this framework, land has become both a weapon and a reward. In recent years, over 20,000 kanals of land have been allotted to Hindu investors, and more than 200,000 acres handed to foreign corporate entities. Simultaneously, vast tracts, like the 129 kanals in Baramulla, have been given to Indian security forces. These reallocations bypass the rights of local communities and further alienate the indigenous population from their ancestral lands. Meanwhile, anti-encroachment drives have disproportionately targeted Muslim families, displacing them with no transparent legal recourse or resettlement plans. The same land is then transferred to security installations or development projects controlled by non-locals.
Such policies are not only about land; they aim to reshape the region’s political voice. The delimitation process was tailored to dilute the strength of Muslim-majority constituencies, while boosting the political weight of Hindu-majority areas like Jammu. Traditional Muslim leadership has been undermined, banned, or sidelined entirely, creating a political vacuum filled by centrally appointed bureaucrats who function without accountability to the local population. In a region that once prided itself on its political consciousness and civic engagement, the silencing of elected voices represents a profound disenfranchisement.
Repression is enforced not just through policies, but through force. Surveillance of Muslim activists, students, and journalists has become normalized, with many facing detention under draconian laws such as the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and Public Safety Act (PSA). The space for free expression has shrunk as independent media faces relentless censorship and intimidation. In such an environment, dissent is not debated—it is criminalized.
The Waqf (Amendment) Act, therefore, cannot be viewed in isolation. It is a continuation of a pattern that seeks to weaken the institutional and cultural backbone of the Muslim community in IIOJK. These changes are not accidental, nor are they neutral. They are carefully engineered to align with an ideological vision that treats Muslim identity as an obstacle to national integration, rather than as an essential and legitimate part of India’s pluralistic fabric.
The cumulative impact of these actions is devastating: a people rendered voiceless in their own homeland, religious institutions stripped of autonomy, land ownership manipulated to favor outsiders, and legal protections erased in favor of militarized control. The new Waqf law is more than an amendment—it is a declaration that the rights, faith, and identity of the Muslim minority are expendable under the current regime’s vision of governance. It is a silent conquest waged through paperwork, policy, and force—leaving behind a trail of dispossession and disenfranchisement that threatens to redefine the region’s future.
