The report was earlier in the day tabled in the Rajya Sabha amid uproar.
The Bill was submitted to Lok Sabha Speaker on January 30. File pic
The report of the Joint Committee on Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, was tabled in the Lok Sabha on Thursday with Home Minister Amit Shah asserting the BJP has no objection to the opposition’s dissent notes being included without redaction, and asked the Speaker decide according to procedures.
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When panel chairman Jagdambika Pal rose to table the report, opposition members shouted slogans. The opposition members then staged a walkout, raising slogans against Pal. The JPC report Bill was submitted to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on January 30. The panel had earlier adopted the report on the draft legislation by a 15-11 majority vote. The report was earlier in the day tabled in the Rajya Sabha amid uproar.
Report bias, say opposition
Opposition MPs led by Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that dissent notes were deleted from the report, a charge denied by Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju.
TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee slammed the Centre alleging that the BJP was trying to stifle voices of the opposition. In the Rajya Sabha, the opposition MPs staged a walkout alleging that the JPC on the Waqf Bill is “biased” and “one-sided,” adding that the dissent notes submitted by the panel members weren't included in the JPC report. JMM MP Mahua Maji and AAP MP Sanjay Singh went on to claim that this Bill is just beginning and soon the government would bring the Bill to “grab” lands of other religions too.
Panel member and Congress MP Dr Syed Naseer Hussain alleged that the JPC had not followed the procedures and key parts of the dissent notes were blurred. Hussain accused the Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju of “lying.” The AIMPLB said if the Waqf Bill is passed, it will run a nationwide movement against it within the framework of the Constitution.
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