New Delhi, Aug 30 (IANS) The second meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), formed to discuss the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024 in detail, was also tumultuous. In this marathon meeting held on Friday, there was a heated debate between the BJP and opposition MPs regarding the bill. Opposition MPs also walked out of the meeting for a while. Muslim organizations invited to the meeting to present their views on the bill opposed the bill. The next meeting of the JPC will be held on September 5 and 6.
According to sources, when BJP MPs were presenting their views on the bill, they had to face repeated interruptions from the opposition MPs. BJP MPs accused the opposition MPs of being unruly and not allowing them to speak properly, while the opposition MPs alleged that the BJP MPs were acting arbitrarily, not following the democratic process and were also making personal comments on the opposition MPs.
There was a heated debate between BJP MP Dilip Saikia and AAP MP Sanjay Singh in the meeting. Singh, citing the example of Delhi in the meeting, also alleged that the BJP does not understand the meaning of the Constitution nor does it follow it, but is only busy grabbing power. There was a long debate between Saikia and Singh in the meeting about the situation in Delhi, the arrest of AAP leaders, the work of the Lieutenant Governor and the rights given to the Collector in the bill. There was also a heated debate between other MPs in the meeting about ‘Waqf by User’ and the rights of the Collector.
AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi today gave another written note in opposition to the bill to JPC chairman Jagdambika Pal. It is being told that there was a heated debate between Asaduddin Owaisi and Abhijit Gangopadhyay in the meeting. Owaisi strongly protested, calling Gangopadhyay’s personal remarks insulting.
There came a time in the meeting when the opposition parties walked out of the meeting protesting the attitude of the government. Actually, a lawyer appearing on behalf of the Muslim organization had presented his views in the first JPC regarding the bill. But when he started speaking again for the second time, he was stopped saying that he cannot speak again. The opposition MPs stood up protesting against this.
Several opposition MPs, including Asaduddin Owaisi, A. Raja, Imran Masood, M. Mohammad Abdullah and Arvind Sawant, walked out of the meeting, though they returned shortly afterwards.
There was an incident in the meeting on which the opposition MPs were seen taking a dig in a humorous manner. Actually, when an officer was counting the benefits of this bill, the word Afghani came out of his tongue by mistake instead of Agakhani community. He wanted to say that this bill will benefit other backward classes of Muslim society like Bohra and Agakhani but by mistake it came out of his tongue that this bill will benefit Afghans, taking a dig at which the opposition MPs jokingly asked whether this bill is for India or for Akhand Bharat.
The All India Sunni Jamiat-e-Ulema, which was invited to the JPC meeting on behalf of the Muslim organization, opposed the bill and said that they do not approve of the amendment in the Wakf laws. Wakf is a matter of Muslims and the government should not interfere in it.
At the same time, the Indian Muslim for Civil Rights organization also opposed the amendment in the bill in front of the JPC. The organization’s president, former MP Mohammad Adeeb, calling the bill illegal, alleged that the government was interfering in the religious matters of Muslims.
–IANS
STP/AKJ
