Sajjadanashin Sayed Md. B.E. Edr. (D) by L.Rs.,
Appellants v. Musa Dadabhai Ummer and others, Respondents,
M. JAGANNADHA RAO AND R.C. LAHOTI, JJ.
.. While the law of public Wakfs as it stood in 1928 did not take within its meaning a Wakf where the founder of the Wakf could spend the income for the maintenance of himself and his family members after expending for the purposes of Wakf, the Bombay Public Trusts Act, 1950 widened the definition of public Wakf even to situations where under the grant the founder could expend the income for the maintenance of himself and his family members.
The definition of Wakf in Section 2(19) of the Bombay Public Trusts Act, 1950 covered a permanent dedication by a person professing Islam not only for the purposes which Islamic law considered as 'religious' and 'charitable' but also which it considered as 'pious' such as where provision was made for the benefit of the members of the settler's family or of the founder and his family members, who were poor. Section 2(19) covered even a Wakf such as the one described in Section 3 of the Mussalman Wakf Validating Act, 1913 under which any benefit was claimable by the founder, his family, children and descendants - provided that the ultimate benefit in such cases expressly or impliedly was reserved for the poor dr for any other purpose recognised by the Muslim .Law as religious, pious or charitable purpose of a permanent character. Section 9 of the Bombay Act included charitable purposes also. (Source: AIR 2000 Supreme Court 1238)
Bombay High Court on injunction Against District Wakf Officer
District Wakf Officer, Nanded, Petitioner v.
Jeelanikhan Roshankhan and another, Respondents.
V.K. BARDE, J.
Wakf Act (29 of 1954), Section 56 - Suit for injunction against District Wakf Officer – Notice under Section 56 not served on Wakf Board – Suit not filed against Board nor any allegation made against board - Suit filed against Officers of Board in personal capacity who were causing obstruction to lawful possession of Wakf property by plaintiff taken on lease from Board ... Notice under Section 56 to Board not necessary – Suit maintainable. (Source: AIR 2000 Bombay 340)
On Destabilisation of the University
IUML President Banatwalla to HM, 12 Sept,00
... There are well-founded apprehensions that the Aligarh Muslim University is being continuously defamed and maligned by certain anti-minority mischievous elements ... There is a systematized campaign to tarnish the fair image of the University by blowing the events out of proportion, leveling baseless allegations and presenting the University in negative terms ...
Unfortunately, thoughtless actions of our law- enforcing agencies, too, encourage these ... elements in promoting bias against the University.
There is considerable unrest and agitation in the University campus. The AMU Staff Association has also come out against the highhandedness of the concerned government departments. Despite high sentiments, discipline is being well maintained to protect the academic atmosphere.
... I urge upon to kindly intervene in the matter, meet the students, staff and the University authorities, ensure that due justice is done and frustrate the attempts to destabilize the University through baseless, malicious propaganda (and take) strict action against the governmental agencies who have acted in the face of and in violation of all healthy norms of procedure (and stop the) harassment of students.
AMU's Image - Editorial, The Hindustan Times. 18 Sept .. 2000
Just as it will be absurd to believe that the Banaras Hindu University is a bastion of patriotism, similarly it will be fatuous to suggest that the Aligarh Muslim University is a den of subversion. Yet, it is undeniable that the political thrust of some of the recent majoritarian campaigns, especially in the Hindi belt ... has endowed the AMU with an image which its students and teachers may consider unfair. Unfortunately, some recent events have tended to substantiate this troublesome reputation (and) have partly confirmed misgivings about the university's functioning.
That there will be few rotten apples in an institution comprising thousands of students is obvious. Equally obvious is the enormous difficulty faced by the authorities in keeping a watch on unsavoury activities.
... It will not be besides the point to say that those in charge of institutions whose reputation, for whatever reason, is facing a threat should be specially careful to redeem its honour ...
Akshaya Mukul On Saffron Hate for AMU
Hatred comes easily to the saffron youth brigade of this city. It seems they have been trained to hate - a hate that gnaws at them like the hunger of an animal waiting to be fed. Barely into their teens, they are part of the Hindu Jagran Manch (HJM) (as RSS outfit), Bajrang Dal, Shiv Sena and Vishwa Hindu Parishad. And the ongoing controversy at AMU has given them an opportunity to add fuel to an already volatile situation.
Though there is nothing new in their demands - remove AMU's minority status, downsize it, closely monitor the movements of its teachers and students, allow police to arrest anyone from campus at will and, if need be, close it forever - what is alarming is the prescription suggested by them. Dinesh Mishra, head of Hindu Jagran Manch, Aligarh, says, "Anyone from AMU even suspected to be involved in anti-national activities should either be killed through encounters or be hanged".
Though these organisations had no role to play in AMU's problem this time, they now want to make the most of it. And the obvious thing to do is to spread rumours. For instance, when Intelligence Bureau's Rajan Sharma was manhandled by students in the campus, the HJM spread a rumour that Sharma is on his deathbed. The few scratch marks on his back were intentionally read as 'Allah-o-Akbar' and soon the entire city knew of it. By the time it was denied by Aligarh district magistrate Deo Dutt, passions were running high.
Similarly, the HJM came up with a press release saying that Mobin Ahmad's diary had the phone number of Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin. Soon Aligarh was talking about a grand conspiracy being: hatched against Hindus in far-flung Islamabad. On checking, it was found that the Salahuddin in Mobin's diary was actually the former chief of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), who now resides in Dubai.
But all this would not have been possible without the local media, which willingly highlights these rumours. And the administration rarely reacts to their canards. In fact, as Priyavrat Mishra, a functionary of the Bajrang Dal, points out, a few senior officials have privately encouraged them to mount the offensive.
Dinesh Mishra doesn't rule out communal riots if the "situation aggravates further". The Hindu Jagran Manch has publicly declared that if the 12 AMU students named in the FIR for attacking Rajan Sharma are not handed over to the police by the university administration, the task should be given to them ... (Source: The Times of India, 17 September, 2000)
