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A ruckus broke out in the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) sitting on Waqf Amendment Bill 2024 after which 10 Opposition MPs were suspended
TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee said an undeclared emergency was in the JPC meeting while BJP MP Nishikant Dubey accused Opposition MPs of creating a ruckus. (Courtesy: PTI)
After a ruckus broke out in the meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on Waqf Amendment Bill 2024 taking place in the Parliament premises, 10 Opposition MPs were suspended from the meeting for the day.
The suspended Opposition MPs were Kalyan Banerjee (TMC), Md. Jawed (Congress), A Raja (DMK), Asaduddin Owaisi (AIMIM), Nasir Hussain (Congress), Mohibullah (Samajwadi Party), M. Abdullah (DMK), Arvind Sawant (Shiv Sena (UBT)), Nadeem ul Haq (TMC) and Imran Masood (Congress).
Storming out of the meeting, TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee said to ANI, “It is like an undeclared emergency going on in the meeting…Chairman is proceeding with this (meeting) and he doesn’t listen to anyone…They (BJP MPs) think that they are deputy PM and deputy home minister.”
“This is a complete farce…..We were told there will be a meeting on 24th and 25th January. Now, for today’s meeting, the agenda has been changed from clause-by-clause discussion,” he added.
Meanwhile, reacting to the suspension of the MPs, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey said, ” It is the thinking of the people belonging to the Opposition, especially Owaisi that we have not heard the complete representation from Jammu & Kashmir and called Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. Only to hear him the JPC chairman postponed the meeting to hold clause by clause discussion. Today, the Opposition’s thoughts and views are exposed.”
“They created a ruckus and misbehaved in front of cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq of Muttahida Majlis-e-Ulema, this is against parliamentary democracy. Even if there was a meeting to hold clause-by-clause discussion today and tomorrow, there would have been another meeting on 27th Jan or 28th Jan. A meeting was already determined for 27th Jan,” Dubey further said.
What Happened At The JPC Meeting On Waqf Bill?
A ruckus broke out between the Opposition MPs and leaders of the ruling party over the Waqf Amendment Bill 2024.
Leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, while deposing before the committee, raised objections and also said that various articles of the Indian constitution have been violated.
He also conveyed to the committee that people like him are important stakeholders, and that they should have been consulted before the bill was drafted.
He said that the government should not have been in such a hurry to bring the bill, but should have come to Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh and met the people like him there who have consequences to the bill.
Retorting back at Farooq, the ruling party leaders said they were most impressed to finally see that he has understood the Constitution is paramount.
He accused the Opposition of trying to “strangle the voice of the majority” and added that the report will be submitted to the speaker on January 29.
Opposition MPs have decided to write to the Lok Sabha speaker about the highhandedness of the JPC committee chairman who they have alleged is only pursuing the BJP agenda.
Speaking on the ruckus Committee Chairman Jagdambika Pal said, ” We adjourned the house twice…Kalyan Banerjee used unparliamentary words against me and abused me, I kept requesting him to let those people speak, who we invited…we adjourned the house again and again but they (opposition MPs) did not want the meeting to continue.”
The report of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) will be submitted during the Parliament’s budget session.
The Waqf Act of 1995 was enacted to regulate Waqf properties and has faced criticism for corruption, encroachments and mismanagement.
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 is aimed at addressing the challenges and bringing reformative changes like legal mechanisms to reclaim illegally occupied properties, improved transparency, enhanced audits and digitisation.
