Refer Waqf bill to standing committee of Parliament: Mayawati

Forceful interference of the Central and UP govts in the matters of mosques, madrasas, waqfs etc and taking excessive interest in religious matters like temples and monasteries is against the Constitution

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati has said the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, tabled in Parliament on Thursday should be sent to the Standing Committee of the House in view of the doubts, apprehensions and objections raised by the members on the bill.

BSP chief Mayawati expressed her views in a post on X. (HT file)

In post on social media platform X, the BSP chief said, “The forceful interference of the Central and UP governments in the matters of mosques, madrasas, waqfs etc and taking excessive interest in religious matters like temples and monasteries is against the Constitution and its principle of secularism. Is such narrow and selfish politics necessary? The government should fulfil its national duty.”

“The Congress and the BJP have done a lot of politics under the guise of temple-mosque, caste, religion and communal frenzy etc. and have also taken a lot of electoral advantage from it, but now is the time to prove true patriotism by focusing on the reservation, poverty, unemployment, inflation, backwardness etc,” she said.

“In view of the doubts, apprehensions and objections raised on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill presented in Parliament today (Thursday), it is appropriate to send this Bill to the Standing Committee of the House for better consideration. It would be better if the government does not hurry on such sensitive issues,” the BSP chief said in her post.