The chairman of the Chhattisgarh Waqf Board has taken an unprecedented step by issuing circulars stating that all sermons delivered during Islamic Friday prayers will be pre-screened to ensure that no political speeches are made.

Salim Raj, who assumed the role of chairman of the Chhattisgarh Waqf Board last month, has announced through a WhatsApp message that political speeches should not be delivered in mosques. He stated that all speeches must adhere strictly to Islamic teachings. The Waqf Board, responsible for managing, safeguarding, and regulating waqf properties in India, reportedly took this step after receiving reports of “anti-government” speeches being made in some mosques within the BJP-ruled state. 

A religious place "shouldn't be turned into a political adda (place)," Salim Raj confirmed to The Indian Express.“It’s unfortunate that the place is used to issue fatwas (rulings) and decide who to vote and whom not to vote… They must talk about Islam, what it says and the message of Allah. Politics must be left for politicians,” he stated. The board will send letters with the new instructions to the roughly 3,800 mosques in the state, according to Raj, who also serves as the leader of the BJP's minority cell in Chhattisgarh. “The order will be effective this Friday,” he said. The directive has faced criticism from opposition parties, including the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and the Congress. On Saturday, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi described the decision as unconstitutional in a post on X.

“The waqf board of the BJP government of Chhattisgarh wants that before giving the Jummah (Friday) sermon, the khatib (a person who delivers a sermon during Friday prayers or Eid prayers) should get his sermon checked by the waqf board and should not give the sermon without the permission of the board,” the Hyderabad MP said. Now BJP people will tell us what is religion. Do I have to take permission from them to follow my religion? The Waqf Board has no such legal power, and even if it had, it would have been against Article 25 of the Constitution.” Meanwhile, the Congress denounced it as an assault on the right to free speech and the freedom to practice one's faith.

“The Waqf board has the authority to assess its properties but does not have the power to give instructions on what a Maulana or Mutawalli can say in their speeches inside mosques. This is unconstitutional and the Congress party condemns this,” Congress spokesperson Sushil Anand Shukla told The Indian Express. But the BJP claimed it wanted to stop mosques “from being misused for political ends”. “We have seen (it) in Kashmir, where they kept issuing fatwas and it led to Kashmiri Pandits facing violence and fleeing the place. Here too, if any controversial comments are made against the nation or state or anti-national elements try to participate in such things, the government will act on them. An eye is being kept on all mosques so they are not misused,” Tauqir Raza, BJP spokesperson for Chhattisgarh, said.