Opposition’s 44 amendment proposals rejected, NDA’s 12 approved
New Delhi: The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) reviewing the Waqf (Amendment) Bill on Monday adopted all amendments proposed by the ruling BJP-led NDA members and negated every change proposed by opposition members.
One of the significant amendments proposed by the committee was that the existing Waqf properties cannot be questioned on the grounds of ‘Waqf by user’, which existed in the current law but will be omitted in the new version if the properties are being used for religious purposes. The amendments moved by the NDA members in 14 of the Bill’s clauses have been accepted, a news agency reported.
The opposition MPs decried the meeting’s proceedings and accused committee chairperson Jagdambika Pal of “subverting” the democratic process. They did not allow us to speak anything. No rules and procedures have been followed… We wanted to discuss the amendments clause-by-clause but did not let us speak at all. The JPC chairperson Jagdambika Pal moved the amendments and then declared them without listening to our points… This is a bad day for democracy,” TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee reportedly alleged.
The Waqf panel has 31 members from both Houses of Parliament. While 16 of them are from the NDA, (12 from BJP), 13 came from various opposition parties, one from YSR Congress Party, and one nominated member.
“If the amendments were moved, and there were 16 members voting against them, and only 10 in favour of them, then can those with 10 members supporting them be accepted? It is natural whether it is the Parliament or JPC,” said Jagdambika Pal told the press while explaining why the opposition’s amendments were rejected.
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, was referred to the joint committee of Parliament on August 8 following its introduction in the Lok Sabha by Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju. The Bill aims to amend the Waqf Act of 1995, to address issues and challenges in regulating and managing Waqf properties.
Other proposed changes are to limit donations from Muslims who have been practicing their faith for at least five years (a provision that triggered a row over the term ‘practicing Muslim’.
Owaisi and the DMK’s Kanimozhi, meanwhile, have argued it violates multiple sections of the Constitution, including Article 15 (the right to practice a religion of one’s choice) and Article 30 (the right to minority communities to establish and administer their educational institutions).