Amid Ruckus, JPC Report On Waqf (Amendment) Bill Tabled In RS

Amid ruckus and continuous sloganeering from opposition members, the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) report on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, was tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

BJP MP Medha Vishram Kulkarni presented the report, along with a copy of the evidence recorded before the panel. The presentation triggered an uproar in the Upper House, leading to the adjournment of the session until 11.20 am. When proceedings resumed, opposition MPs continued to disrupt the House.

Opposition Leaders Slam Govt

Earlier in the day, JPC Chairman and BJP MP Jagadambika Pal stated that the report was finalized after six months of nationwide consultations, involving 25 amendments across 14 clauses. He emphasized the committee's extensive efforts to gather inputs and ensure thorough deliberation.

Opposition leaders, however, criticized the bill and the JPC's process. Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi accused the government of pushing a politically motivated amendment instead of improving the implementation of the existing Waqf Act, 1995. He highlighted constitutional concerns and dissent within the JPC report.

Similarly, Congress MP KC Venugopal condemned the committee's approach as flawed. Trinamool Congress MPs Kalyan Banerjee and Md Nadimul Haque protested the removal of key portions of their dissent notes, alleging that the JPC's conclusions were biased and ignored stakeholder inputs.

The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, aims to address long-standing issues like mismanagement, corruption, and encroachments in Waqf properties through reforms such as digitization, enhanced audits, and improved transparency.

On the JPC report on the bill, committee member and AIMIM Chief Asaduddin Owaisi says, "Today, a group of Lok Sabha MPs, which included A Raja, Kalyan Banerjee, Imran Masood, Mohammad Jawed, Gaurav Gogoi, and me, went to meet the Speaker. We told him that many pages and paragraphs of our dissent notes have been redacted from the JPC report.

He was kind enough to ask the Secretary-General to include from our dissent notes whatever the rules permitted ... Later, we sat in the Parliamentary library and included most of the redacted pages in the report, which will be presented in the Lok Sabha at 2 pm... The paragraphs that expressed aspersions on the working of the committee were not included since they were against the rules..."

JPC Member & Congress MP Dr Syed Naseer Hussain said that the report is "biased and one-sided" as the procedures were not followed in the JPC. "Non-stakeholders were called, 97% of them opposed this bill. We were not given the minutes of the meeting... Key parts of our dissent notes were blurred, and the minister of minority affairs lied about it..." he said.

On JPC report on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, submitted to the Lok Sabha Speaker, committee member and AAP MP Sanjay Singh says, "It is disappointing that the Opposition's dissent notes have not been included in the report... This is just the beginning. Soon, they will bring a bill to possess the lands of Gurdwaras, Temples and Churches and give this land to their capitalist friends."