The protest against the Waqf Amendment Bill at Jantar Mantar will be unlike the Shaheen Bagh protest, which was a wayfarer's nightmare. Shaheen Bagh was against the Citizens Amendment Bill though nobody Indian lost citizenship and CAA was passed and implemented.

The Waqf Board protest will be counted as legitimate and it might even succeed in achieving its goal but there are calls to create a "1000 Shaheen Baghs" over Waqf. Chances are a version of Shaheen Bagh might be recreated in places away from Delhi.

For now, Jantar Mantar has advantages. One, it is the "official venue" for protests. Two, the government can't just up and uproot the protestors. Three, Parliament is in session and Jantar Mantar is next door and opposition MPs can keep coming and going!
Four, the Press Corps will be at hand, OB Vans and 'Piece to Cameras'. Five, the authorities will behave, the "ham-handed police", especially. Five, the protestors themselves will not go beyond their limitless powers to unsettle.

All in all, better by far than Shaheen Bagh. Traffic won't be affected beyond the Connaught Place area. But Shaheen Bagh lives on for the sheer excitement it brought to Muslim hearts. The adrenaline rush and the sense of unity and purpose.

That said, the Waqf protest at Jantar Mantar will be a fight to remember. The Modi government believes it has succeeded in driving a wedge between well-off Muslims and those lower down the totem. What if Muslim unity doesn't break? What if the protest sends disparate signals?

Depends on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the weakest link in the chain-link fence put up to halt the Waqf-protest in its tracks. Prime Minister Modi succumbed to protests over the three farm bills. He has been seesawing on UCC. Waqf is on the brink and Prime Minister Modi is a master of 'flip-flop.'

Those fighting for keeping the Waqf as it is includes not only Muslims of all variations but also Opposition parties, from the Congress to the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party. Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress and MK Stalin's DMK. The Left parties, also.

What about Modi's two crutches? Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal(U)and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party? The two have a chance to win over completely the Muslim vote-bank. Question is, what does Prime Minister Narendra Modi hold over the heads of Nitish and Chandrababu? To paraphrase, anything is game in love and politics!

Perhaps, the Waqf protests will break the lock-jam and Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu, ever dependent on the Muslim vote-bank, will change course? There's growing perception India is a Muslim country. The Waqf protests will further consolidate the Muslim vote and the Hindu vote is coalescing like there's no future.

The BJP believes it is on to a good thing after the Mahakumbh. And Muslim clerics, leading the Waqf protest, are quite okay with street veto. Should/Will the Modi government step back? The maulanas say the "fight will be to the finish."

Indian Muslims are anxious to convince Hindus of their “legitimate right" to follow Sharia. Accordingly, all traces of Uniform Civil Code should be wiped out. Any problem? Muslims fighting against the Waqf Amendment Bill, 2024 say Waqf is an endowment for Allah and “once Waqf always Waqf’ applies, nobody can take away from Allah what belongs to Allah!

What happens then to what belongs to India? Does the Constitution protect the rights of Indian citizens or the right of 'God'? The Muslim answer is, Jantar Mantar will convince Indians of the "threat to Muslim religious and constitutional identity" and the government cannot amend the Waqf Act as it will be "erasing the religious identity of Muslim Waqf properties."

At the end of the day, "Waqf is not personal property, it belongs to Allah. Any modifications or government interference in its basic status are not only against Sharia principles but also a violation of the Constitution."

The only solution is to borrow from Arvind Kejriwal and turn to odd-even. Odd days when India will be 'Muslim' and even days when India will be 'Hindu'. 'Fridays' Hindus will not step outdoors. 'Tuesdays' Muslims will stay indoors! It is the 'pehalwan' answer to control tempers and put a halt to communal conflagrations. (IPA Service)