Second JPC meet on Waqf Bill witnesses heated arguments; Muslim bodies submit reservations

NEW DELHI — The second meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) held to discuss the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024 witnessed heated arguments on Friday between the BJP members and MPs from the Opposition camp, while the Muslim bodies invited to present their opinion submitted their reservations to the proposed amendments.

The first round of the JPC meeting on the Waqf Bill was held on August 22. The next two meetings will be held on September 5 and 6.

During the marathon meeting on Friday, at one point the Opposition MPs also staged a walkout in the course of voicing their disagreements to the proposed Bill.

According to sources, the BJP parliamentarians were frequently interrupted by the Opposition MPs during the discussions on the Waqf Bill.

When the BJP MPs complained about not being allowed to present their views properly, the Opposition MPs accused their counterparts of not following ‘democratic norms’, and resorting to making personal remarks.

In the course of the debate, heated arguments also took place between BJP’s Dilip Saikia and AAP’s Sanjay Singh.

Singh, attacking the BJP, said the party neither understands the meaning of the Constitution nor follows it. The AAP Rajya Sabha MP also said that the BJP is busy “grabbing power”.

He also spoke on the issues pertaining to Delhi, where the AAP is in power, while mentioning the arrest of his party leaders, and the proposal to empower District Collectors to decide on the ownership of a disputed Waqf property, as well as including non-Muslims as members in the Waqf boards.

‘Waqf by User’ was also one of the key subjects during the second JPC meeting which was debated by several MPs.

Opposing the Waqf Bill, AIMIM MP from Hyderabad Asaduddin Owaisi submitted a written note to the head of the JPC, Jagdambika Pal.

It has been learnt that the Hyderabad MP was also involved in a heated argument with BJP’s Abhijit Gangopadhyay.

Owaisi apparently found a remark made by Gangopadhyay “insulting” which he protested.

The boiling point at the meeting was witnessed when the Opposition MPs staged a walkout after the representative of a Muslim body was not allowed to speak for the second time.

Owaisi, A. Raja, Imran Masood, Mohammad Abdulla, and Arvind Sawant left the meeting midway but returned after a while.

Amid all the heated discussions, a light-hearted moment came as a breather for the MPs who were sternly engaged in debates.

In a gaffe, an official mis-spelt ‘Agakhani’ community (in Muslims) as ‘Afghani’ while listing the benefits of the proposed Bill. It was being underlined that backward Muslim communities, Bohra and Agakhani, would benefit from the amendments proposed in the Waqf Bill.

Poking fun at the goof up, the Opposition MPs wondered “Is this Bill for India or ‘Akhand Bharat?”

Meanwhile, the All India Sunni Jamiat-e-Ulama representing the Muslim bodies submitting its reservations over the Waqf Bill, saying that the proposed amendments were not acceptable.

“The subject of Waqf pertains to Muslims and the government should not interfere in this,” it said.

Besides, the Indian Muslim for Civil Rights also said that it differs with the amendments proposed in the Bill. Its president, former MP Mohammad Adeeb, described the Bill as “illegal”, and also accused the government of interfering in the religious matters of Muslims.

Notably, at the first meeting of the JPC on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024, several opposition members of the panel claimed that the provisions violate the laws of freedom of expression, religious freedom, and equality.

The opposition members also raised questions over various clauses mentioned in the Bill.