Several Opposition MPs on Monday boycotted a meeting of a joint parliamentary committee tasked with reviewing the Waqf Amendment Bill, alleging that the panel was not functioning as per rules, reported The Hindu.
The protesting legislators who stormed out of the meeting are Gaurav Gogoi and Imran Masood of the Congress, A Raja of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Arvind Sawant of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi, the Samajwadi Party’s Mohibbullah and Sanjay Singh of the Aam Aadmi Party, the newspaper reported.
“We have boycotted because the committee is not functioning with the principles and norms of the committee,” Sawant was later quoted as saying by India Today. “Ethically and principally they are wrong.”
The panel is headed by veteran Bharatiya Janata Party MP Jagdambika Pal.
Sawant also claimed that allegations targeting veteran Opposition leaders, including Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, were made during the meeting.
India Today reported that the controversy erupted after a presentation made by Anwar Manippadi, the former chairman of the Karnataka State Minorities Commission.
A waqf is a property given for a religious, educational or charitable cause to Muslims. In India, waqfs are governed under the Waqf Act. Each state has a Waqf Board led by a legal entity that is vested with the power to acquire, hold and transfer property. The Act was last amended in 2013.
On August 8, the Waqf Amendment Bill was sent to the parliamentary committee for scrutiny following objections from Opposition parties after the draft legislation was introduced in the Lok Sabha.
The panel had sought written suggestions from the public, experts, non-governmental organisations and institutions, among others, on the draft legislation. It received more than 1.2 crore email responses, both for and against the bill, according to reports.
The bill proposed to amend 44 sections of the 1995 Waqf Act.
Features of the proposed amendment include ensuring the verification of land before a board announces it as a Waqf property, and requirements for the funds received by the boards to be used for the welfare of widows, divorcees and orphans as suggested by the government.
After the bill was introduced in the Lower House, several Opposition MPs objected to the bill, calling it “anti-Muslim” and “unconstitutional”.
Also read: Why Muslim leaders are objecting to new waqf bill
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