India’s central government has issued a strong reaction to a decision by a state’s waqf board to declare Ahmadis as non-muslims.

Andhra Pradesh Waqf Board had passed a resolution in 2012 declaring Ahmadis as non-muslim. The resolution had also said that muslim clerics should not officiate nikkah ceremonies of Ahmadis. The matter had been taken to court where a stay order had been issued.

However, the union ministry for minorities has now written a letter to the Andhra Pradesh government saying that another such resolution was recently passed by the government.

The new resolution has asked the government to take direct control of waqf properties belonging to Ahmadis as they are not muslims.

Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind has also thrown its weight behind the waqf board’s decision and caleed it the ‘unanimous’ position of all muslims.

The ministry letter says that this amounts to a hate campaign and is not within the powers of the waqf board.

“This constitutes a hate campaign against the Ahmadiyya community at large and the Waqf Board neither has the jurisdiction nor authority to determine religious identity of any community including Ahmadiyyas,” the letter says.

The letter adds that the resolution has been passed despite court orders.

It also says that the law on Waqf Act of 1995 “does not confer any power to State Waqf Boards to make such proclamations.’’

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat India had told the government that passing of the resolution amounted to a ‘clear’ violation of its rights.

India has counted Ahmadis as a sect of Islam since the 2011 census when their population was counted as around 100,000.