Opposition's ‘gurudwaras, temples next’ charge at govt as Waqf Bill report tabled in Rajya Sabha

The reported prepared by the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, was tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

Opposition MPs, including those who represented their parties in the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, tore into the government on Thursday when the JPC report was tabled in the Rajya Sabha.

New Delhi, Feb 13 (ANI): Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar listens to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Sanjay Singh during the Budget Session, in New Delhi on Thursday. (ANI Photo/Sansad TV)

Specifically, the opposition parliamentarians alleged that after the government ‘snatches’ the Waqf land, similar action will be taken in the future on properties under different religious bodies and groups.

Congress MP Syed Nasir Hussain, a panel member said, "Today it is Waqf, tomorrow it will be about gurdwara land, then temples. They (the government) want to snatch the land and give it to their friend (industrialist Gautam Adani)."

Trinamool Congress' Nadimul Haque, also a member of the JPC, echoed the charge and claimed that ‘millions of Indians’ would be affected if the Bill became an Act.

“We will continue to oppose,” Haque asserted.

Sanjay Singh of the Aam Aadmi Party called the Bill a ‘beginning of capture' of Muslims' land.

"This is the beginning of capturing of the land of mosques and dargahs, history will not forgive us. The Modi government wants to give all property to Adani and some capitalists," Singh, who participated in the JPC, said.

Union minister on opposition's ‘dissent note’ charge

Meanwhile, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju denied the opposition's charge that their dissent notes were redacted from the report.

Also, Rijiju praised the JPC for its ‘commendable work.’

"Some opposition MPs raised objections and said their dissent notes had been taken out. The report, along with the annexure, has been tabled. In the dissent note, if aspersions are cast on the committee, which the chairman feels is not right, the chairman has the power to remove those portions. It is written in the rules," the BJP leader stated in a press conference.

"It is wrong to say the dissent notes are not included in the report," he added.

(With PTI inputs)