Waqf Bill: 10 Protesting Opposition Members Suspended From Parliamentary Panel

Prominent among suspended members are Kalyan Banerjee and Nadeem-ul Haque, A Raja and Mohamed Abdullah (DMK), Asaduddin Owaisi, Mohibullah and Arvind Sawant.

New Delhi:As many as 10 opposition members attending the parliamentary panel meeting on the Waqf Amendment Bill were suspended for a day on Friday amid protests and accusations against chairman Jagdambika Pal of steamrolling through the proceedings. The contention of opposition members was that Pal reduced the proceedings to a farce and alleged that he acted on the government's directions. Pal charged the conduct of opposition members, who he alleged, aimed at disrupting the meeting.

According to Pal, Trinamool Congress leader Kalyan Banerjee hurled abuses at him and said he strove to bring the meeting to order, adjourning it twice but in vain. 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).

The suspension of the opposition members came on a day when a delegation from Jammu and Kashmir led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the religious head of Kashmir, appeared before the Joint Committee on the Waqf Amendment Bill to share their concerns about the draft legislation.

Protests, unruly scenes

The meeting of the Committee began on a stormy note with the opposition members accusing the chairman of steamrolling through the proceedings and changing the agenda of the meeting at will. The ten opposition members were suspended as protests and unruly scenes continued at the meeting of the Committee, which had re-convened after a brief adjournment.

"After our meeting on January 21, the chairman informed the members that the next meeting will be held on January 24-25. Opposition members protested and A Raja also wrote a letter requesting to schedule the meeting after January 30 or 31. But the chairman did not listen to us,” Banerjee said. He said the agenda of Friday’s meeting was changed late night on Thursday and intimated to members close to midnight.

"The chairman is treating opposition members as domestic helps and ordering them around,” Banerjee said, and alleged that the proceedings were being rushed through with an eye on the Delhi assembly elections. The Trinamool Congress leader said Pal received several phone calls as the meeting was in progress and alleged that he was taking orders from the government in conduct of the proceedings.

However, BJP member Aparajita Sarangi claimed the conduct of opposition members was "disgusting" as they were continuously creating ruckus during the meeting and using unparliamentary language against Pal. Official sources said the committee will be adopting its final report on January 29.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant said, "The JPC is being run with some dictatorial tendency, what kind of hurry is there I fail to understand that...It's an important Bill that can create chaos in the country, but it is not being dealt with like that.."

"It was said that clause-by-clause discussion would take place, but today, people from Jammu and Kashmir came and that clause-by-clause discussion was postponed for January 27th," Sawant told news agency ANI.

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.

Mirwiz demands govt non-interference

Ahead of appearing before the committee, the Mirwaiz told reporters that he strongly opposed the bill and favoured non-interference by the government in matters of religion. "We hope our suggestions would be heard and acted upon and no such step would be taken that would make Muslims feel that they are being disempowered," he said.

"The issue of Waqf is a very serious matter, especially for the people of Jammu and Kashmir, as it is a Muslim-majority state. Many people have concerns regarding this, and we have prepared a detailed memorandum addressing these concerns point by point. We want the government to refrain from interfering in Waqf matters," the Mirwaiz said.

He claimed there was already an atmosphere of tension in Jammu and Kashmir when there is talk of mosques and temples. "We believe no step should be taken that vitiates the atmosphere in J-K," the Mirwaiz said. Earlier, the Mirwaiz was slated to meet Pal at his residence.

This is for the first time that the Mirwaiz, who also heads the virtually defunct separatist conglomerate Hurriyat Conference, has stepped out of the Kashmir valley post abrogation of the special status of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.