Who has more land in India? RSS-linked magazine flags Catholic Church land holdings after Waqf Bill passage

Nagpur, Mar 30 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a conversation with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Chief Mohan Bhagwat during the foundation stone laying for Madhav Netralaya Premium Centre, in Nagpur on Sunday. (ANI Photo)

Following the smooth passage of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill in Parliament, attention appears to be shifting to another major land-holding religious body — the Catholic Church. An article on the web portal of Organiser, a magazine affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), has sparked fresh conversation by questioning the scale and legitimacy of Church land ownership across India.

In a piece titled 'Who has more land in India? The Catholic Church vs Waqf Board debate', the author compares land held by Muslim Waqf boards with that of Catholic institutions, alleging that the Church owns approximately 7 crore hectares of land — a figure it claims makes the Church the "largest non-governmental landowner" in the country.

According to an article in Telegraph India, the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, which introduces sweeping revisions to the 1995 Waqf Act, empowers the government with enhanced authority to regulate waqf properties and adjudicate disputes. Waqf land, typically bequeathed by Muslims for religious, charitable, or educational purposes, has historically been under the purview of waqf boards. The legislation has been sharply criticised for allegedly paving the way for state control over such religious endowments.

Ironically, the BJP had showcased the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council’s endorsement of the bill to needle the Opposition during the legislative battle.

“According to the Government Land Information website, as of February 2021, the Indian government owned approximately 15,531 square kilometres of land… While the Waqf board does own significant land parcels across various states, it does not surpass the holdings of the Catholic Church in India,” noted Sashank Kumar Dwivedi in the article published on Organiser.org.

“Reports suggest that the Catholic Church of India owns around 7 crore hectares (17.29 crore acres) of land throughout the country... The total estimated value of these properties is around Rs 20,000 crore, making the Church a significant player in India’s real estate landscape,” the article further claimed.

Historically, the RSS-BJP combine has often trained its guns on Christian missionaries, accusing them of religious conversions through inducement and coercion. However, in recent years, the rhetoric has been strategically toned down, particularly in poll-bound regions like Kerala, Goa, and the northeastern states, in a bid to woo Christian electorates.

The Organiser article, however, resurrects the land debate, insinuating that much of the Catholic Church's estate was acquired during the British colonial era—often through what it describes as “questionable means”. It also revives a long-forgotten directive from the post-independence era aimed at reclaiming such properties.

"In 1965, the Indian government issued a circular stating that any land granted on lease by the British government would no longer be recognised as Church property. However, due to lax enforcement of this directive, the legitimacy of certain Church-owned lands remains unresolved," the article points out.