After six months of nationwide consultations, the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) report on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024 was tabled in Parliament on Thursday amid a strong protest from the Opposition.
The Opposition staged a walkout in the Rajya Sabha amid discussion on the report alleging deletion of dissent notes.
In the Lok Sabha, Home Minister Amit Shah made it clear that the government would have no objection if the dissent notes of the Opposition are added to the JPC report on the Bill.
BJP lawmaker and Chairman of the Waqf JPC Jagdambika Pal tabled the panel’s report.
Amid sloganeering by the Opposition members, Home Minister Shah said, “Some members of the Opposition have raised the objection that their dissent notes have not been fully included in the report. On behalf of my party, I would like to request that the disputes of the Opposition be included in the appropriate procedure of the parliamentary process; my party has no objection to this.”
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said he had included all the dissent notes after meeting with the opposition leaders. “Whatever issues were raised by the members of the Waqf Board who met with me, I have included them in the annexure,” he added.
In the Rajya Sabha, BJP MP Medha Vishram Kulkarni presented the report even as the Opposition staged a walkout while the discussion on the JPC report going on alleging that dissent notes from Opposition members were removed.
Earlier, the upper house was adjourned till 11.20 am following a ruckus by Opposition Members. As the Opposition MPs resorted to sloganeering after the house resumed Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar urged them to maintain decorum.
Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge called the report “unconstitutional” and “fake.” He urged the leader of the House JP Nadda to take back the “unconstitutional” JPC report.
LoP Mallikarjun Kharge said, “The Waqf panel deleted the dissent notes of MPs and added views of people from outside. This is unconstitutional and the House will not allow tabling of such a report”.
”I condemn any report that has been presented after deleting the dissent reports. We will never accept such fake reports… If the report does not have dissent views, it should be sent back and presented again… ” he asserted.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister and Union Minister of Minority Affairs Kiren Rijiju assured the House that all dissent notes of the Opposition MPs have been attached to the appendix of the report, adding, “Why are you still protesting? No part of dissent has been deleted.”
Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Bhupender Yadav also made an intervention. Mr Yadav said all the rules were duly followed. Ms Sitharaman said the Opposition members did not believe the minister(Rijiju). ”It is outrageous…”
Nadda critiqued the Opposition for creating a ruckus when the President’s message was being read. ”Debates, discussions on topics and agreement and disagreement have been going on inside Parliament, but we should keep traditions in mind. Keeping traditions in mind, the proceedings of the House should be allowed to continue in a democratic manner under the constitutional provisions,” he said.
”We are sorry that despite your repeated requests, you were not allowed to read the President’s message. The kind of role the Opposition has played is irresponsible. When her message was read, the House should have been in order, which is not the case. We condemn this,” he added.
Committee member and AAP MP Sanjay Singh said it was disappointing that the Opposition’s dissent notes have not been included in the report.
Earlier, outside Parliament, Jagadambika Pal said the report is being presented after six months of nationwide consultations with all the relevant parties.
Meanwhile, Congress alleged that an attempt is being made to bring a politically motivated amendment to the already available Waqf Act. “Currently, there is an act that manages Waqf properties, and instead of focusing on how the government can better implement this act, an attempt has been made to bring a politically motivated amendment,” said Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi.