For me, the enduring image of the stormy debate on Waqf reforms in the Lok Sabha will always be the cringingly hysterical performance of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi, who tore his copy of the bill on the floor of the Lok Sabha calling it an “attack on Muslims". It typified the Muslim instinct to cry wolf at the slightest hint of change. His hammy speech (“This Bill is an attack on Muslims. My mosques, my dargahs, my madrasas are on target…") was classic “Islam-khatre-mein-hai" political tub-thumping.

A man of undoubted intelligence, eloquence and street savvy, Owaisi could have been a force of good for his community—guiding it towards a progressive future.

But, sadly, he has chosen to be a force of reaction and an impediment to change. However, he is not alone. Much of the Muslim leadership is cut from the same reactionary cloth.

The voices that are now vowing to fight Waqf reforms tooth and nail are the same who said they would not rest until “justice" was done over the Babri Masjid dispute, the triple talaq issue and the “anti-Muslim" new citizenship law. The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB)—yes, the same august body which has the dubious record of losing every single battle it has fought to “save" Islam and Muslim identity—has threatened to launch a nationwide agitation against the “black law".

A number of petitions have already been filed in the Supreme Court on behalf of individual Muslims and Muslim groups challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf legislation, which has........

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