New Delhi, September 19 (IANS). There was a lot of uproar between the ruling party and the opposition in the fifth meeting of the JPC formed to discuss the Waqf (Amendment) Bill-2024 in detail. There were several heated arguments between the MPs of BJP and opposition parties.
There came a time in the meeting when there was a heated debate between JPC Chairman Jagdambika Pal and opposition MPs. On Thursday, representatives of Pasmanda Muslim Mahaj, who came to present their views on the bill on behalf of the Muslim community, strongly supported the bill.
Calling this bill beneficial for 85 percent of Muslims, he demanded that Dalits and tribals of the Muslim community should also be given a place in it. When the representatives of Pasmanda Muslim Mahaj were presenting their views on the bill in the meeting, many opposition MPs were repeatedly interrupting them. There was a heated debate between the MPs of BJP and opposition parties regarding this.
Expressing displeasure over the attitude of the opposition MPs, the BJP MPs said that when any Muslim person or organization opposes the bill, the opposition MPs listen silently. But, whenever someone supports the bill, the opposition MPs create disruptions.
Prof. Faizan Mustafa, Vice Chancellor of Chanakya National Law University, Patna and Muslim intellectual, also presented his views before the JPC regarding the bill. He supported many provisions of the bill including Waqf by User and Waqf Tribunal, but at the same time he termed many other provisions including giving all the powers to the DM as wrong.
Prof. Faizan Mustafa also advised the government to move forward only on the basis of everyone’s consensus.
According to sources, in the JPC meeting, Aam Aadmi Party and AIMIM also raised the issue of the statement of Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Both the MPs said that when the JPC is considering the Wakf (Amendment) Bill and the matter is with the JPC, then why is the Home Minister giving a statement outside about the bill?
Opposition MPs even alleged that efforts were being made to pressurize the JPC. These allegations were also hotly debated in the JPC meeting. At the same time, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board completely opposed the bill, calling it anti-Islam and anti-Muslim. They questioned the government’s intentions in the JPC meeting and said that worship and charity are part of faith in Islam, which has also been mentioned in the Quran.
He strongly opposed the Waqf (Amendment) Bill-2024, terming it an interference in the rights of Waqf. During this, a BJP MP raised the issue of documentation of Waqf properties, due to which there was an uproar in the meeting. There was also a heated debate between JPC Chairman Jagdambika Pal and opposition MPs on this issue.
The next meeting of the JPC will be held on Friday. For the sixth meeting of the JPC on Friday, people associated with the All India Sajjadanashin Parishad-Ajmer, Muslim National Forum and Bharat First-Delhi have been called to present their views on the bill.
–IANS
STP/ABM