Sajad Hussain has lived in the Shia Lines Waqf colony in Lucknow for five years now. His two-storey house is one of the few completed homes in the colony. The government slapped a ceiling case on it three years ago, stopping all construction.
Since then, the neighbourhood, like its structures, has been in a kind of limbo; cement, bricks and lives all kept on hold. When asked about the recently passed Waqf Amendment Act, Hussain laughs. 바카라The Act? Oh, it바카라s excellent바카라exactly what we needed.바카라 As he says this, Hussain바카라s eyes dart towards Bablu Bhai, also known as Syed Haider, the colony바카라s caretaker, seeking approval.
Haider, who oversees the day-to-day workings of the colony, has been living there for over nine years. He follows us around during our visit to the Shia Lines Waqf colony, whispering to each resident we speak to: 바카라Just tell them about your life, how you are living here. No need to lie, but don바카라t say anything else.바카라
Haider is afraid, like every other resident in the Shia colony. They are scared that if one of them was to openly criticise the government in Uttar Pradesh, 바카라a bulldozer might arrive at our gate tomorrow,바카라 explains Hussain.
So, does he really think the 2025 Waqf Act is an excellent move for Muslims in UP? In a hushed tone, eyes darting again to ensure Haider isn바카라t nearby, he replies, 바카라There is a lot of corruption inside the Waqf Boards, yes. But non-Muslims should not be part of the Boards. This isn바카라t right. Are there any Hindu institutions into which non-Hindus are forcibly inserted?바카라
The introduction of the 2025 Waqf Amendment Act (WAA) is mired in controversy. With all Opposition parties against the Act, the clash of anti and pro-WAA sentiments across India has only been surpassed by those seen during the CAA-NRC protests of 2020. Political parties across the spectrum, excluding the BJP, have called the Act 바카라anti-Muslim.바카라 Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi has called it 바카라a threat to the Constitution.바카라 There are ten petitions lodged in the Supreme Court against it, including one by the Samajwadi Party, wherein its MP Zia Ur Rehman has said it violates the fundamental rights of the Muslim community. The lawyers바카라 collective, All India Lawyers Association for Justice (AILAJ), has also slammed the new amendment to the Waqf law in India, calling it 바카라bigoted law-making.바카라
After both houses of Parliament passed the Act recently, the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) not challenged it in the Supreme Court. AIMPLB also called for protests against the Act every Friday till May 6.
On April 11, the first Friday after the President gave her assent to the Act, there were no public protests against it in Lucknow. Two days earlier, the UP Police, under instructions from Chief Minister, had announced the immediate cancellation of all leave for officers. Sources within the DGP바카라s office said the cancellation of leave was part of 바카라precautionary measures바카라 to ensure that there was 바카라no unrest or violence바카라 due to the passing of the Waqf Act.바카라
On that first Jumma, police personnel, along with central paramilitary units, stationed themselves outside all the major mosques in Lucknow, and also in Muslim-majority areas, along with 21 other districts across the state. 바카라They were everywhere바카라we didn바카라t even step outside our house that day,바카라 says 60-year-old Kaimun Banu.
The only protest that took place in the city was inside the Jama Masjid, within the Bara Imambara mosque in Old Lucknow. Members congregated wearing black armbands and the imam spoke briefly on the Act. It was a protest in name only바카라no one saw it; no one heard it. That was the idea. Just days ago, in Sitapur, less than 90 kilometres from Lucknow, 60 Muslims who protested the Act by wearing black armbands in public had been booked and ordered to furnish a security bond of Rs one lakh. Those named included several imams and maulanas. The legal action was sanctioned by the sub-divisional magistrate of Laharpur.
Women on Radar too
The shadow of 바카라Bulldozer Justice바카라 looms large over the residents of Lucknow. Kaiman Banu is visibly embarrassed to let us into her temporary home. She lives near Subhash Marg and her house was razed during the CAA-NRC protests in which she took part. Her family바카라herself, her husband and two teenage sons바카라now live opposite a waste pile inside one of the snaking lanes of the neighbourhood. Their temporary home is not big enough for all four. The family sleeps together in a railroad apartment on the first floor of the shabbily constructed jhuggi, while their animals바카라seven goats바카라are housed on the ground floor.
Kaiman is part of the All-India Democratic Women바카라s Alliance (AIDWA). 바카라My job is to make sure other women are getting what they need, but I don바카라t have anything right now,바카라 she says. She moves around the house adjusting and hiding laundry hung on visible rafters, cleaning goat urine from the floor and insisting that this reporter take the only seating available: a broken bed under which all the family바카라s worldly possessions바카라whatever they could salvage from the wreckage of their home바카라are crammed. Five years on, the family is rebuilding brick-by-brick at the snail바카라s pace their income allows.
바카라They had tried to demolish our homes here again as well, when we protested about them evicting the Muslims from Akbarnagar, but we took to the streets and blocked them,바카라 she says.
On June 19, 2024, the UP government demolished over 1,800 structures, including 1,169 homes, in Akbarnagar. The state government claimed these were encroachments that stood in the way of its plans to develop the area into the Kukrail Riverfront, transforming it into an ecotourism hub. Most residents of the area had lived there for decades.
바카라We lived there since before there was any development; they demolished my grandfather바카라s house,바카라 says 29-year-old Hasina Begum. She now lives in a relocation home on the outskirts of Lucknow. 바카라It바카라s terrible here바카라it바카라s a jungle. There are no metros, no transport to take us to work, no one to sell anything to or trade anything with. We바카라ve basically been thrown aside, far away from the Hindus so they never have to see us,바카라 she adds.
The only protest that took place in the city was inside the Jama Masjid, within the Bara Imambara mosque.
Hasina had a stable job as a cook and cleaner in an upper-middle-class home in Gomti Nagar before the demolitions. But because she was relocated far from the suburbs, it would take too long for her to travel to work and her employer eventually fired her. She is now unemployed and at a loss about how to support her family, including three children.
Two hours outside of Lucknow, Summaiya Rana, the national spokesperson for the SP, sits in her family farmhouse. She cannot enter the city for fear of arrest. There is a warrant against her for spreading communal disharmony. Her crime? 바카라I spoke up about Waqf on social media and some news channel. I didn바카라t even leave my house because the police wouldn바카라t let me,바카라 she says.
The courts have asked her to pay a Rs 10 lakh bond to secure bail. Her lawyers are challenging this in the local trial court. The authorities know where Rana is, but no one has come to arrest her in her farmhouse. 바카라What they want is for me not to be in Lucknow; not leading any protests,바카라 she explains.
This isn바카라t the first time Rana has clashed with the state government. 바카라During the CAA-NRC protests, the police kept me under house arrest throughout the whole month of Ramzan. Every Thursday and Friday, I would be under house arrest. It바카라s almost a habit for me now,바카라 says Rana.
And she바카라s not the only one. Eram Shabrez, the president of the Aam Aadmi Party in Lucknow, also has a notice against her for which she must pay Rs 10 lakh as surety. She had written against the Act on Facebook on April 4. The next day, police slapped a notice on her. 바카라Protests aren바카라t a crime, but they바카라ve charged me with everything they could think of,바카라 she says.
Along with these women, four men from the SP have also been charged for protesting or, as the first information report (FIR) in Eram Shabrez바카라s case states: 바카라violating the peace.바카라 They each have to pay Rs one lakh as bonds.
Students Threatened with Arrests
On Ambedkar Jayanti, April 14, Lucknow was awash with celebrations for Babasaheb. The chief minister, along with deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak, minister Swatantra Dev Singh and other leaders, paid floral tributes to Ambedkar on his 135th birth anniversary in Hazratganj. The CM also reportedly attended a function at the city바카라s Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University (BBAU). However, before the festivities, several BBAU students known for their activism received a chilling notice. 바카라Stay away from the school during the event, don바카라t come for the celebrations or risk being prosecuted,바카라 it stated.
바카라These students have no prior criminal record; they are not involved in any cases of violence or rioting,바카라 says Abdul Wahab, a research fellow at Ambedkar University in Delhi and a resident of Lucknow. Wahab shared copies of these letters with us.
Local journalists were unperturbed by the news. 바카라This is normal; it happens all the time,바카라 laughed Mohamed Khan (name changed on request), a journalist who has been covering politics in Lucknow for the past ten years.
Four days earlier, on April 10, city police registered an FIR against a group of unidentified students from Lucknow University for 바카라disrupting traffic바카라 on University Road during a protest. Charges included Section 7 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, which carries a prison sentence of six months to one year.
Battered and Browbeaten
Lucknow바카라s Muslim community has been browbeaten into silence, says Hasina. 바카라You tell me, how should we protest? If we speak out, our homes are destroyed, or cops file cases against us and our children,바카라 she says in a tone that can only be described as hopeless.
But the constant debasement of their faith and community is what truly hurts.
바카라The other day I went to the electricity board office to pay my bill and the karamchari (employee) there went off on me: 바카라Why do you care whether there바카라s light or not in your house? Isn바카라t it like that in all the mosques and Waqf properties?바카라 he asked me this,바카라 narrates 28-year-old Naazmin Khan (name changed on request). She adds: 바카라I wanted to tell him off, but how could I? I need to run my home too, so I stayed silent.바카라
Naazmin hangs her head. Her shoulders rise up and then fall as she lets out a defeated sigh. 바카라It wasn바카라t like this before, you know? We used to live together바카라Hindu and Muslim. I remember my Hindu friends would send gujjiya (traditional sweetmeat) to us during Holi and we used to send sevaiya (traditional dessert noodles) to them during Ramzan. But since this government has come, that is all gone.바카라
Avantika Mehta is a senior associate editor based in New Delhi
This article is part of Outlook바카라s May 01, 2025 issue 'Username Waqf' which looks at the Waqf Amendment Act of 2025, its implications, and how it is perceived by the Muslim community. It appeared in print as 'Fear Amid Loathing In Lucknow.'
