Beyond Headlines

“Just as the mango season, the melon season, and other seasons keep coming, similarly, the season of riots has also started coming over the past few years. Its duration lasts from Eid al-Adha to the end of Holi.

A journalist friend called me recently to discuss a story on the Haj. His central question was straightforward: why should the government spend public money on a religious pilgrimage? He noted that the Ministry of Minority Affairs has a dedicated Haj Section, and claimed that large sums—running into lakhs and even crores—are spent on facilitating the pilgrimage for Muslim citizens.

This is the fourth interview in our BeyondHeadlines Waqf Interview Series. Today’s conversation is with Saleem Mulla, a dedicated Waqf activist based in Pune, India, who has been working at the grassroots level to protect and promote Waqf properties. Mr. Mulla is the president of the Waqf Liberation and Protection Task Force, which he founded in Pune in 2016. The organization is now active in 20 districts across Maharashtra.

This is the third interview in our BeyondHeadlines Waqf Interview Series.

This is the second interview in our BeyondHeadlines Waqf Interview Series. In today’s issue, we spoke with Dr. Ahmed Mohiuddin Siddiqui, a seasoned journalist and political analyst currently based in the Gulf. Originally from Hyderabad, India, Dr. Ahmed brings over three decades of experience in journalism, including 30 years of dedicated reporting on Waqf issues. He began his career as a sub-editor and staff reporter at Deccan Chronicle, a major English-language newspaper in India.

The recently enacted Waqf (Amendment) Act 2025—officially titled the United Waqf Management Empowerment, Efficiency and Development Act (UMEED)—has ignited significant controversy across India. The government insists the reform is designed to modernize the Waqf system, minimize legal disputes, and increase administrative efficiency. Critics, however, argue it undermines religious freedoms and erodes constitutional protections.

When I woke up on the morning of January 29, I saw on social media that a stampede at the Maha Kumbh in Allahabad had left dozens dead and many others injured. The news was heartbreaking. However, conflicting reports soon emerged, with some viral claims suggesting that no such incident had occurred. One video even showed a police officer denying the accident.

In 1914, as World War I began, the renowned London newspaper The Times published an article titled The Choice of the Turks, urging the Turks to side with the Allies. In response, Muhammad Ali Jauhar (10 December 1878 – 4 January 1931), a fervent supporter of Türkiye in India, penned a counter-article with the same title. In it, he fiercely criticized The Times and refuted its arguments. Six weeks prior to the publication of this article in The Times, Muhammad Ali was bedridden with diabetes.

In a significant historical revelation, newly declassified British colonial intelligence reports have unveiled the previously unrecognized role of Ajmer Sharif Dargah in India’s independence movement. Once viewed merely as a site of spiritual worship and interfaith dialogue, Ajmer Dargah—dedicated to the esteemed Sufi saint Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti—was, in reality, a crucial hub for anti-colonial activities.

On 17th October 2024, the AMU and its alumni spread across the globe celebrated the 207th birthday of [Sir] Syed Ahmad [Khan Bahadur] in almost all the important cities of the world. The reformist intellectual is the founder of the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental (MAO) College (1877; it became incorporated as the Aligarh Muslim University-AMU, in 1920). Arguably, no other reformist intellectual or founder of a college gets annual tributes at this scale, worldwide.