The NDA government on Thursday presented the report of the joint committee of Parliament on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill in the Rajya Sabha amid huge uproar from the Opposition parties. The report was already submitted to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on January 30.
Speaking in the Rajya Sabha, Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge rejected the report saying that the party ‘will never accept such reports’. “Many MPs have given their dissent notes in the JPC of the Waqf Board, but they were removed from the proceedings. This is undemocratic. This House will not accept this fake report. I request that if the dissent notes have been removed from it, then the report should be sent back to JPC and it should be presented again after incorporating the dissent notes of the Members of Parliament. If the government does anything unconstitutional, we will raise our voice against injustice in the interest of the country,” said Kharge On X as well.
Samajwadi Party MP Dimple Yadav said the opposition is united against the bill. “We are opposing this bill. The entire opposition is united on this. There may be some parties from the ruling side which might be with us on this,” said Dimple Yadav.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant alleged that clause-by-clause discussions were never held. “The committee was formed to discuss the clause b clause provisions made in the Bill… The JPC chairman should be asked if the answers given by the witnesses were given to the JPC members. No, they were not. Clause-by-clause discussions were never held in the meetings of the JPC. Because of this, we gave a dissent note. They have removed the dissent note we gave. We are against the Waqf report to be tabled today,” said Sawant.
TMC Rajya Sabha MP Sushmita Dev also opposed the bill. “If you see, they have censored using black ink or white paper the dissent note on top of the committee report, which has been tabled today. If we consider this country a democracy, then everyone’s opinion must be visible. How can you hide our opinions? We have protested against this in Rajya Sabha today,” she said.
On the other hand, the BJP defended the report. BJP MP Aparajita Sarangi said, “Since I have been a part of the JPC, I can say with all conviction that the preparation of the 655-page report has been a meticulous exercise… The government of PM Narendra Modi wants proper management of the Waqf properties… Jagdambika Pal has included the notes of the Opposition who were a part of the JPC… It is with a noble cause that PM Modi’s government has brought this amendment…”
Congress MP KC Venugopal also slammed the Centre and said that the way in which the JPC conducted, it “was wrong.” The JPC on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill adopted the draft report and the amended revised bill on January 29. However, opposition leaders submitted their dissent notes on the report which was later expunged from the final version.
The Waqf Act of 1995, enacted to regulate Waqf properties, has long been criticised for issues such as mismanagement, corruption, and encroachments. The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 aims to address these challenges by introducing reforms such as digitisation, enhanced audits, improved transparency, and legal mechanisms to reclaim illegally occupied properties.