New Delhi: Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Kashmir's chief cleric and religious head, is set to appear before the parliamentary panel on Waqf Amendment Bill in New Delhi today (Jan. 24) to convey his reservations about the draft legislation.
Speaking to the media ahead of his meeting with the Joint Parliamentary Committee, Mirwaiz said, "Jammu & Kashmir is a Muslim-majority state and there are many concerns of the people of J&K which we are going to present before JPC today. We will also present a detailed memorandum on it. We will raise our issues in a step-by-step manner and we hope that JPC members will address our concerns. Waqf is an important issue which has both social and religious impacts...You can see that there is already an atmosphere of tension when there is talk of mosques and temples. We believe no step should be taken that harms the atmosphere of brotherhood. We thought JPC would come to Kashmir. We have come here at a short notice..."
Apart from him, the committee is also scheduled to hear the views of the Lawyers for Justice group today. The revised schedule of the Committee was circulated late Thursday night.
The Joint Committee on the Waqf Amendment Bill, chaired by BJP leader Jagdambika Pal, also put off its deliberations on clause-by-clause consideration of the draft legislation to next week following reservations expressed by the Opposition leaders. The committee will now consider the bill in detail on Monday. Earlier, the Mirwaiz was slated to meet Pal at his residence.
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.
This is the first time 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.
Waqf Bill
On August 8, 2024, two bills, the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, and the Mussalman Wakf (Repeal) Bill, 2024, were introduced in the Lok Sabha. The government said the bill were aimed to "streamline the Waqf Board's work and ensure the efficient management of Waqf properties".
"The Amendment Bill seeks to improve the administration and management of waqf properties in India. It aims to overcome the shortcomings of the previous act and enhance the efficiency of Waqf boards by introducing changes such as renaming the Act, updating the definitions of waqf, improving the registration process, and increasing the role of technology in managing waqf records," the government said in a handout in September last year.
The Waqf Bill was eventually referred to the Joint Committee of Parliament. (Agency inputs)
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