In a dramatic turn of events, all opposition members of the parliamentary panel on the Waqf Amendment Bill were suspended for a day on Friday following continuous protests and accusations against Chairman Jagdambika Pal. The opposition accused Pal of steamrolling through the proceedings, further fueling the controversy surrounding the bill.
The suspended members include Kalyan Banerjee, Mohammad Jawed, A Raja, Asaduddin Owaisi, Naseer Hussain, Mohibullah, Mohamed Abdullah, Arvind Sawant, Nadeem-ul Haque, and Imran Masood. The motion for suspension was moved by BJP member Nishikant Dubey and subsequently adopted by the committee.
BJP member Aparajita Sarangi described the conduct of opposition members as “disgusting,” alleging they had continuously disrupted the meeting and used unparliamentary language against the chairman. The meeting, which began on a stormy note, saw opposition members claiming they were not given adequate time to study the proposed changes to the draft legislation.
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Tensions escalated further when discussions among committee members turned heated over the decision to invite Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the religious head of Kashmir, to present his views. Opposition leaders accused the BJP of pushing for a speedy acceptance of the report on the Waqf Amendment Bill with an eye on the upcoming Delhi elections.
The heated arguments led to a brief adjournment of the proceedings. Once reconvened, the Mirwaiz-led delegation appeared before the committee. However, dissatisfaction among opposition members persisted. Trinamool Congress member Kalyan Banerjee and Congress member Naseer Hussain stormed out of the meeting, later telling reporters that the committee’s proceedings had devolved into a “farce.”
Both leaders demanded that the meeting scheduled for January 27 to examine the proposed amendments clause-by-clause be deferred to January 30 or January 31 to allow adequate time for review.
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, which seeks to address issues and challenges in regulating and managing waqf properties, was introduced in the Lok Sabha by Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on August 8, 2024. The bill was subsequently referred to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for further examination.
The suspension of opposition members and the controversies surrounding the bill highlight deepening divisions over the legislation, with both sides blaming each other for undermining parliamentary processes.
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