Qureshi Bano (L) sits outside her 1R flat with at the Shia colony with Parveen Banu and Shaheen Banu in Lucknow on April 14, 2025.
The Muslim residents of the city of Lucknow are tired, and afraid, they say. “If we speak up to protest anything, this Waqf Act for example, bulldozers are sent destroy our homes and cops arrest our children. How should we protest?” They say this in response to questions about why no public protest happened in Lucknow after the 2025 Waqf Amendment Act was passed by both houses of the Indian Parliament. The city is home to the largest Waqf Board in the country, and recent estimates by the government say that nearly 80% of the land in Lucknow is Waqf land. The Supreme Court had on April 17 stepped in to curtail sections within the Act that have been called unconstitutional including the admittance of non-Muslims into the Waqf tribunals and Boards. However, there are ten petitions against the Act pending before the apex court.
Qureshi Bano (L) sits outside her 1R flat with at the Shia colony with Parveen Banu and Shaheen Banu in Lucknow on April 14, 2025.
Qureshi Bano (L) sits in her 1R flat with at the Shia colony with Parveen Banu and Shaheen Banu in Lucknow on April 14, 2025.
Shahina Fatima sits in her flat with her son, her two brothers live in a house in the same colony but could not accommodate her and her kid there in Lucknow on April 14, 2025.
Sultanut bai sits in her one room flat where construction has stopped due to a court case in Lucknow on April 14, 2025.
Two women walking past the main entrance to the Shia colony towards their flats in Lucknow on April 14, 2025.
Aishbagh Kabristan in Lucknow on April 16, 2025.
Girls at Aishbagh madrassa in Lucknow on April 17, 2025.
Hussainabad Gate in Lucknow on April 16, 2025.
Chota Imambara in Lucknow on April 16, 2025.
Jama Masjid, Tahseen ganj in Lucknow on April 16, 2025.
Bara Imambara in Lucknow on April 16, 2025.
Opposite Chota Imambada gate in Lucknow on April 16, 2025.