Opposition members of the parliamentary panel on the Waqf Amendment Bill who were suspended for a day today amid continuous protests and accusations against Chairman Jagdambika Pal of steam-rolling through the proceedings, have written to the Lok Sabha Speaker seeking proceedings to be conducted in a fair manner.
“As we all felt humiliated, we stood and raised our voice democratically to hear our demands. Meanwhile, the Chairman spoke in phone with somebody and suddenly and surprisingly, he ordered our suspension with shouting,” the suspended MPs said in the letter to the Speaker.
“… The Amendments proposed in the Bill are not only connected with the huge land banks of the Waqf Boards across the country, but also relevant to the judicial pronouncements of the High Courts/Supreme Court thereon,” they said.
“Statues and rules enacted by various state governments in this regard are also in challenge whereby conflict of interest has arisen thereto. Hence, a comprehensive study is essentially needed by the JPC to address these issues raised by the stakeholders in a holistic manner. In these circumstances, rushing the proceedings of the JPC without application of the mind by the Chairman is nothing but a riddle wrapped with hidden malice,” the MPs said.
The suspended members of the joint parliamentary committee (JPC) are Kalyan Banerjee, Mohammad Jawed, A Raja, Asaduddin Owaisi, Naseer Hussain, Mohibullah, Mohamed Abdullah, Arvind Sawant, Nadeem-ul Haque, and Imran Masood.
The suspension of the Opposition members came on a day when a delegation from Jammu and Kashmir led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the religious head of Kashmir, appeared before the joint committee on the Waqf Amendment Bill to share their concerns about the draft legislation.
However, BJP member Aparajita Sarangi said the conduct of Opposition members was “disgusting” as they were continuously creating ruckus during the meeting and using unparliamentary language.
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, was referred to the JPC on August 8, 2024 following its introduction in the Lok Sabha by Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju. The bill aims to amend the Waqf Act, 1995, to address issues and challenges in regulating and managing Waqf properties.
Ahead of appearing before the committee, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq told reporters that he strongly opposed the bill and favoured non-interference by the government in matters of religion.
“We hope our suggestions would be heard and acted upon and no such step would be taken that would make Muslims feel that they are being disempowered,” he said.
