This picture is from October 14, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge was accused of grabbing Waqf assets. Opposition MPs walked out of the meeting in protest.
Opposition MPs have accused BJP MP Jagdambika Pal, chairperson of the parliamentary committee on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, of tyranny. These MPs have warned of separation from the committee.
They allege that Pal is taking unilateral decisions without consulting the opposition, due to which opposition MPs are not getting a proper opportunity to present their views on the bill.
According to sources, opposition MPs will meet Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla today to express their displeasure over the issue.
Opposition leaders have written a joint letter to Birla, signed by several leaders including DMK's A Raja, Congress' Mohammad Javed and Imran Masood, AIMIM's Asaduddin Owaisi, AAP's Sanjay Singh and TMC's Kalyan Banerjee.
Alleged unilateral decision making in meetings In the letter, the opposition MPs have complained that Jagdambika Pal sometimes fixes meeting dates for 3 consecutive days and is also taking decisions unilaterally.
Opposition MPs say that it is not possible for us to have a proper conversation without preparation. Along with this, the BJP MPs have alleged that the opposition members are deliberately creating hurdles in the work of the committee.
JPC has 21 members from Lok Sabha – 7 from BJP, 3 from Congress 1. Jagdambika Pal (BJP) 2. Nishikant Dubey (BJP) 3. Tejashwi Surya (BJP) 4. Aparajita Sarangi (BJP) 5. Sanjay Jaiswal (BJP) 6. Dilip Saikia (BJP) 7. Abhijit Gangopadhyay (BJP) 8 Mrs. L.S. Devrayalu (TDP) 9. Gaurav Gogoi (Congress) 10. Imran Masood (Congress) 11. Mohammad Javed (Congress) 12. Maulana Mohibullah (SP) 13. Kalyan Banerjee (TMC) 14. A Raja (DMK) 15. LS Devrayalu (TDP) 16 Dineshwar Kamat (JDU) 17. Arvint Sawant (Shiv Sena, Uddhav Group) 18. Suresh Gopinath (NCP, Sharad Pawar) 19. Naresh Ganapat Mhaske (Shiv Sena, Shinde Group) 20. Arun Bharti (LJP-R) 21 .Assuddin Owaisi (AIMIM).
JPC has 10 members of Rajya Sabha – 4 from BJP, 1 from Congress 1. Brij Lal (BJP) 2. Dr. Medha Vishram Kulkarni (BJP) 3. Ghulam Ali (BJP) 4. Dr. Radha Mohan Das Aggarwal (BJP) 5. Syed Naseer Hussain (Congress) 6. Mohammad Nadeem ul Haq (TMC) 7. V Vijaysai Reddy (YSRCP) 8. M Mohammad Abdullah (DMK) 9. Sanjay Singh (AAP) 10. Dr. . Dharmasthala Virendra Hegde (Nominated by the President)
JPC meetings held so far on Waqf Bill…
August 22, First meeting: Chairman of the committee said – everyone's views will be heard. The first meeting of the 31-member JPC was held on August 22. In this, committee chairman Jagdambika Pal said that all the 44 amendments will be discussed during the consideration of the bill. Everyone will be heard. An official of the Ministry of Minority Affairs and Law briefed the committee about the changes in the draft law.
August 30, Second Session: Opposition MPs walk out In the second meeting, the opposition members walked out of the meeting for a few minutes. The meeting lasted for about 8 hours. The views of All India Sunni Jamiatul Ulema and Indian Muslim for Civil Rights, Rajasthan Muslim Waqf, Delhi and UP Sunni Waqf Board were heard in the meeting.
September 5, third meeting: Opposition said – Ministry hid information In the third meeting, the officials of the ministries gave a presentation on the Waqf Bill. Meanwhile, the officials had a heated argument with the opposition MPs. Opposition MPs alleged that government officials were not giving full details of the bill during the presentation. AAP MP Sanjay Singh and TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee protested the most.
6 September, 4th meeting: ASI objects to old law A team of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) also participated in the meeting. The team said through the presentation that the new amendment bill is also necessary to preserve the old monuments. ASI also registered its five objections to the old Wakf Act.
October 14, Fifth meeting: Kharge accused of grabbing property In the meeting, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge was accused of usurping waqf property. Upset by this, MPs from opposition parties boycotted the meeting. He also wrote a letter to the Speaker and demanded the removal of the chairperson of the committee, Jagdambika Pal. Also asked for time to meet the speaker.
October 29: A huge uproar between opposition MPs and Delhi Waqf Board In the October 29 meeting, there was a huge uproar between the opposition MPs and the Delhi Waqf Board. Opposition MPs said it was illegal to allow the Delhi Waqf Board to make the presentation without the approval of the Delhi government.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
