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JPC report on Waqf bill tabled in Parliament amid uproar from Opposition: ‘Biased, one-sided’
Opposition MPs alleged that the dissent notes submitted by the members weren't included in the panel's report.
The Joint Committee of Parliament (JPC) report on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, was tabled in Parliament on Thursday amid uproar.
The report on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill was tabled by BJP member Medha Vishram Kulkarni, a member of the panel, in Rajya Sabha.
JPC chairman and BJP MP Jagadambika Pal tabled the bill in the Lok Sabha after it was adjourned till 2 pm amid Opposition sloganeering against the report.
In the Rajya Sabha, Opposition MPs alleged that the JPC on the Waqf Bill is "biased" and "one-sided", adding that the dissent notes submitted by the panel members weren't included in the panel's report. Union Parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju, however, rejected the charge.
Also Read | JPC chairman defends deletion of parts of Oppn’s dissent on Waqf bill report
The tabling of the report was followed by uproar by members from the opposition benches, prompting Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar to briefly adjourn the House.
When the House reconvened, opposition MPs said their dissent notes were redacted from the report while the government denied the charge. The opposition members then staged a walkout.
“In the JPC report on the Waqf Board, many members have their dissent report. It is not right to remove those notes and bulldoze our views. This is anti-democratic and condemnable. Stockholders were called from outside and their statements were taken. I condemn any report that has been presented after deleting the dissent reports,” said Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said, according to PTI.
Calling it a "fake report", he added that it should be withdrawn and sent back to a committee.
"We will never accept such fake reports. If the report does not have dissent views, it should be sent back and presented again," Kharge said.
Also Read | ‘Will lead to social instability in country’: Asaduddin Owaisi's warning on Waqf bill
In the Lok Sabha, Opposition MPs staged a walkout after the JPC report on the Waqf bill was tabled.
Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi told reporters that the MPs were giving one night to read 655-page report.
“One night to read the 655-page report...We had hardly any time to present our objections. If you check the minutes of the meetings, you will find that there was no clause-by-clause discussion. We have been all part of many JPCs, and clause-by-clause discussion is most important, but it was bypassed. Under whose influence is the chairman acting? In protest to this, we staged a walk out today,” he told ANI.
AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owasi said that the Waqf Bill is unconstitutional and violate Articles 14, 15 and 29 of the Constitution.
Also Read | Waqf JPC member A Raja rues 655-page report: 'Meeting at 10 am, got it now'
“...This bill is not just unconstitutional and violates Articles 14, 15 and 29 of the Constitution, it is not to save Waqf but to ruin it and snatching it from the Muslims...We condemn this bill...The Speaker has assured that redacted versions of 70% of the dissent reports of MPs will be included…” Owaisi said.
Kiren Rijiju responds to charges
Meanwhile, Union Parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju assured that dissent notes of the leaders are included in the report and it is not right to term the report as illegal and unconstitutional.
Speaking to media persons, Rijiju asserted that the whole report has been presented, and the annexure has also been presented in the House.
"If the dissent notes cast aspersion on the committee, then the chairman has the power to remove it if needed. The chairman has this power as per the rules. If the members think that something should not have been removed, they can ask the chairman. It is not right to call the JPC report illegal and unconstitutional... It is not the NDA's report; it is the report of the Parliament," Rijiju said, according to PTI.
"All dissent reports are included in the report, which was tabled in the Rajya Sabha and will be tabled in the Lok Sabha," the minister added.
Union home minister Amit Shah also said that his party has no opposition if dissent notes of the Opposition are added to the Joint Parliamentary Committee report.
"Some members of the Opposition have raised concern that their views have not been included completely (in the Waqf JPC report). I want to say on behalf of my party that considering the concerns of the Opposition, anything may be added, my party has no objection," he said, according to ANI.
BJP MP Jagdambika Pal, who is also the chairman of the JPC on Waqf (Amendment) Bill, questioned Opposition's move to walk out even after assurance from Shah.
"If the Opposition has brought up this issue (dissent notes note included in report), and on it, the Union Home Minister has said that his party has no objections to including these dissent notes. The Speaker said that the dissent notes would be included. This is like the Speaker's direction. Is it not wrong to walk out even after this?" he told ANI.
