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Suspended Waqf JPC members write to LS Speaker: ‘Chairman spoke to someone on phone and…’
Ten opposition members attending the parliamentary panel meeting on the Waqf Amendment Bill were suspended for a day on Friday.
The suspended members of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Waqf Amendment Bill accused the panel's chairperson, BJP leader Jagdambika Pal, of humiliating them. Reacting to the ruckus inside the meeting on Friday, the opposition MPs shot off a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, alleging that Pal suspended them from the panel after talking with an identified person over the phone.
Ten opposition members attending the parliamentary panel meeting on the Waqf Amendment Bill were suspended for a day on Friday, amid accusations against Jagdambika Pal of steamrolling through the proceedings.
"When the meeting started today at 11.00 AM, we the members of the opposition vehemently raised our voice with utmost respect against the way of conducting the business by the Chairman. We highlighted the unilateral as well as unfair manner of functioning of JPC by ignoring the due process contemplated in the rules. It is respectfully submitted that since the erstwhile served notice scheduled for the meeting on 24th and 25th, we the members designed our programmes in the Constituency/States from 27 to 30th as the Parliament Session starts on 31st and thereby prayed for postponement of the 27th meeting," they wrote in the letter.
‘Chairman spoke with somebody’
"While we put forth these reasonable claims in a civilised manner to the Chairman, he has not even attempted to respond. As we all felt humiliated, we stood and raised our voices democratically to hear our demands. Meanwhile, the Chairman spoke on the phone with somebody and suddenly and surprisingly, he ordered our suspension by shouting," the letter added.
The MPs further accused Pal of rushing the proceedings without "application of the mind".
"A comprehensive study is essentially needed by the JPC to address these issues raised by stakeholders in a holistic manner. In these circumstances rushing the proceedings of the JPC without application of the mind by the Chairman is nothing but a riddle wrapped with hidden malice," they added.
Demanding that the proceedings of the panel be conducted transparently, the opposition MPs questioned if Pal had the power to suspend them.
"It is our opinion that the Chairman of a JPC does not have the power to suspend the members of the Committee. It is therefore prayed that the Chairman of the JPC may kindly be instructed to conduct the proceedings in a transparent and fair manner. The Chairman should postpone the 27th meeting so that the opposition members can get the adequate time and opportunity to put forth our plea/claims without any departure from the rules and procedure to ensure the Parliament democracy on which the nation still has faith," they added.
Who were the suspended MPs
Earlier, BJP member Nishikant Dubey moved the motion for suspending the opposition members which was adopted by the committee,
The suspended members are Banerjee and Nadeem-ul Haque (Trinamool Congress), Mohammad Jawed, Imran Masood and Syed Naseer Hussain (Congress), A Raja and Mohamed Abdullah (DMK), Asaduddin Owaisi (AIMIM), Mohibullah (SP) and Arvind Sawant (Shiv Sena-UBT).
After the ruckus, Pal accused Trinamool Congress leader Kalyan Banerjee of hurling abuses at him.
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, was referred to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on August 8, 2024, following its introduction in the Lok Sabha by Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju.
The bill aims to amend the Waqf Act, 1995, to address issues and challenges in regulating and managing Waqf properties.
With inputs from ANI, PTI
