West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Wednesday that the Waqf Amendment Act will not be implemented in the state, reported PTI.

Addressing a gathering of the Jain community in Kolkata, Banerjee said she would protect minority communities and their properties.

A waqf is a property dedicated to a religious, educational or charitable cause under Islamic law. Each state has a waqf board led by a legal entity that is vested with the power to acquire, hold and transfer property.

The recent changes to the Waqf Act curb the authority of waqf boards and allow greater government control over them. Among the provisions in the amendment are those about allowing non-Muslims on waqf boards, restricting property donations and changing how waqf tribunals function.

“I know you are aggrieved because of the enactment of the Waqf Act,” the Trinamool Congress leader said on Wednesday. “Have faith, nothing will happen in Bengal by which one can divide and rule. You send out a message that all have to stay together.”

Referring to violence that broke out in Murshidabad district on Tuesday over the legislation, she said: “See the situation in the bordering areas of Bangladesh. This [Waqf Amendment Bill] should have not been passed now. We have 33 percent of minorities in Bengal. What will I do with them?”

The Waqf Amendment Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on April 3 and cleared by the Rajya Sabha in the early hours of the next day after long debates. President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to the Bill on Saturday.

She also emphasised unity, saying: “Some people will provoke you to assemble and launch a movement. I will appeal to all of you not to do it. Please remember when Didi [Banerjee] is here, she will protect you and your property. Let us have trust in each other.”

Banerjee said she would continue to visit religious places across faiths.

“Even if you shoot me dead, you will not be able to separate me from [that] unity,” she was quoted as saying by PTI. “Every religion, caste, creed. All of them pray for humanity and we love them.”

The Congress and the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, among others, have challenged the constitutionality of the bill in the Supreme Court.