Kalyan Banerjee, Owaisi other Opposition members suspended from Waqf Bill panel after protests
The motion to suspend the opposition members was moved by BJP's Nishikant Dubey and passed by the committee.
Opposition members of the parliamentary panel on the Waqf Amendment Bill were suspended for a day on Friday after protests and allegations that Chairman Jagdambika Pal rushed through the proceedings.

The members who were suspended include Kalyan Banerjee, Mohammad Jawed, A Raja, Asaduddin Owaisi, Naseer Hussain, Mohibullah, Mohamed Abdullah, Arvind Sawant, Nadeem-ul Haque and Imran Masood.
The motion to suspend the opposition members was moved by BJP's Nishikant Dubey and passed by the committee.
Aparajita Sarangi from the BJP criticised the opposition's conduct as “disgusting,” saying they had continuously disrupted the meeting and used unparliamentary language against Jagdambika Pal.
The parliamentary committee meeting began on a contentious note, with opposition members arguing they were not given enough time to review the proposed changes to the draft legislation.
The committee's internal discussions became heated before inviting Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the chief cleric of Jamia Masjid Srinagar, with opposition leaders accusing the BJP of fast-tracking the Waqf Amendment Bill for political reasons ahead of the Delhi elections.
The meeting was briefly adjourned due to heated arguments. After the break, the Mirwaiz-led delegation appeared before the Committee when proceedings resumed.
On Wednesday, a brief statement issued by Muttahida Majlis-E-Ulema (MMU), headed by the Mirwaiz, said the delegation would convey strong reservations on certain provisions of the bill that stands to have far-reaching implications for the management and autonomy of Waqf properties and the welfare of the Muslims, especially the underprivileged.
Trinamool Congress member Kalyan Banerjee and Congress member Naseer Hussain angrily walked out of the meeting. Speaking to reporters, they criticised the committee’s actions, calling the proceedings a “farce.”
The members also requested that the meeting scheduled for January 27, where the proposed amendments were to be examined clause-by-clause, be postponed to either January 30 or 31.
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, was referred to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on August 8, 2024, after being introduced in the Lok Sabha by Union minority affairs minister Kiren Rijiju.
The bill seeks to amend the Waqf Act, 1995, to address existing problems and improve the regulation and management of waqf properties.
