Waqf Bill referred to joint Parliamentary committee

The opposition argued the Bill interferes with religious freedom, while the government claimed it’s for the welfare of Muslims. The joint parliamentary committee will now examine the Bill before it becomes law

New Delhi: The Waqf (Amendment) Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha on Thursday and referred to a joint parliamentary panel after a heated debate, with the government asserting the proposed law did not intend to interfere with the functioning of mosques and the opposition calling it targeting of Muslims and an attack on the Constitution.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said he will talk with leaders of all parties for constituting the joint parliamentary committee. Soon after Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju sought leave to introduce the Bill, opposition INDIA bloc MPs strongly protested the introduction of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, calling it an “attack” on the Constitution and aimed at targeting Muslims. Congress MP KC Venugopal, who had submitted notice to oppose its introduction, accused the government of violating the right to freedom of religion and claimed the legislation was being brought with an eye on the upcoming assembly polls. “This is a draconian law and a fundamental attack on the Constitution,” Venugopal said.

He said people taught the BJP a lesson -- in the Lok Sabha polls -- for its divisive politics but it is continuing with the same, keeping in mind the upcoming assembly elections in states such as Maharashtra. “It is a direct attack on freedom of religion....Next you will go for Christians, then Jains,” he said.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said the Bill was being introduced to appease the BJP’s hardcore supporters. “What is the point of including non-Muslims in Waqf boards when this is not done in other religious bodies?” Yadav asked.

“The truth is that the BJP has brought this Bill to appease its hardcore supporters,” the Kannauj MP said, adding that it was brought with an eye on the polls.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)-Sharadchandra Pawar MP Supriya Sule said her party opposed the Bill as it was against a particular minority community. “Look at what is happening in Bangladesh, there is so much pain. It is the moral duty of a country to protect minorities,” she said.

“The government should clarify the intent and the timing of the Bill. We object, withdraw this Bill. Let’s discuss it and then bring a Bill that is fair and just,” she demanded.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chairperson Asaduddin Owaisi claimed that the House did not have the competence to make the amendments. “It is a grave attack on the basic structure of the Constitution as it violates the principle of judicial independence and separation of powers,” he said. “You are enemies of Muslims and this Bill is evidence of that,” Owaisi said.

Strongly defending the bill and hitting out at the Congress, Rijiju said the Wakf Act of 1995 did not serve its purpose and the amendments were necessitated as the Congress could not achieve the reform it should have.

“Because you couldn’t do it, we had to bring these amendments...Some people have captured Waqf boards and this Bill has been brought to give justice to ordinary Muslims,” he said. He claimed that many leaders in the opposition had privately told him that state Waqf boards had turned into a mafia. “I won’t take their names and destroy their political careers,” Rijiju said.

He said in the earlier law, there was no provision to challenge or review the order or judgement of the tribunal. Now, provision was being made for verdicts to be challenged at higher courts, the minister said. “In our country, no law can be a super law and that can’t be above the Constitution. However, in the 1995 Wakf Act, there are provisions that are above the provisions in the Constitution. Shouldn’t that be changed?” he asked. “The wrongs which you have done, now, we are correcting those,” Rijiju said, hitting out at the Congress.