JPC meeting on Waqf Amendment Bill 2024 postponed
The three-day meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, scheduled to begin today, has been postponed due to technical reasons.
Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav, on Thursday, launched a scathing attack on the BJP-led Central government over the Waqf Act (Amendment) Bill accusing it of targeting Waqf lands under the guise of amendments.
“All these amendments by the ‘Waqf Board’ are just an excuse. Selling land like defence, railway, and Nazul land is the target,” Yadav said in a social media post in Hindi.
He further alleged, “Waqf Board lands are just another link in the chain of ‘schemes for the benefit of BJP’ after Defence land, Railway land, and Nazul land. Why doesn’t BJP openly write: ‘Issued in the interest of BJP?'”
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Yadav demanded a written guarantee that Waqf Board lands would not be sold, adding, “BJP is working like a real estate company. It should change its name by adding ‘Zameen’ instead of ‘Janta’: Bhartiya Zameen Party.”
The Waqf Act Amendment Bill, which seeks to modify the existing Waqf Act of 1995, has drawn sharp criticism from the Opposition’s INDIA bloc leaders, who demanded the bill must be sent to the standing committee.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah condemned the bill saying, “It shows the NDA government is against the minorities. They are not for secularism, social justice. We have been telling people of the country that they are communal parties. They are fascist and that’s why they are doing this.”
NCP-SCP MP Supriya Sule also voiced her objections to the Bill. She said, “We will object to it. The bill should be sent to the standing committee for more recommendations or a joint parliamentary committee should be made.”
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