JPC members will visit 5 states from November 9.
Jagdambika Pal, Chairperson of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) formed on the Waqf Revision Bill and BJP MP Jagdambika Pal arrived in Karnataka on Thursday. He met farmers protesting against Waqf in Hubli and Vijayapura.
Jagdambika Pal said, 'Farmers of North Karnataka have given a petition. He says that the Waqf Board is claiming his land. I have asked if they have ownership rights over the land. They say they have lived there for more than 50-70 years.
The JPC chairman said, 'The Waqf Board is also claiming places where there are historical monuments protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). We will investigate both the cases and prepare a report.
committeeThe members of said- this is a unilateral decision, going alone is against protocol Opposition MPs included in the JPC have expressed displeasure over Jagdambika Pal visiting Karnataka alone. He said that it is not appropriate for Pal to go alone. This is a unilateral decision. This is against protocol. The committee did not approve it. This is a personal decision of the Chairman.
In fact, BJP MP Tejashwi Surya wrote on November 5 on X-Grievances of farmers to be placed before JPC. On my appeal, the JPC Chairman will go to Hubli and Vijayapura, where he will meet the Waqf-affected farmers and their organizations. Grievances of farmers will be submitted to JPC.
Tejashwi Surya posted on X on November 5 and informed that Jagdambika Pal will visit Karnataka.
Cause of farmers' protest against waqf in Karnataka, 3 points
- A notice was issued declaring the land of some farmers in Vijayapura, Kalburgi, Bidar and Shivmoga in Karnataka as property of the Waqf Board. Against which the farmers started a protest, which was also supported by the BJP.
- The BJP has alleged that after a meeting between Karnataka Waqf Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan and district officials, the names of Waqfs were added to the land records of 44 properties in Vijayapura without any prior notification.
- As the controversy escalated, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said he had asked officials to withdraw the notice, but the BJP intensified the protests. He has accused the Congress government of land jihad.
JPC has 21 members from Lok Sabha. BJP has 7 MPs and Congress has 3 MPs.
JPC members will also pay official visits to 5 states The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Waqf Bill will visit 5 states next week. The committee will start its tour from Assam's capital Guwahati on November 9. After this he will go to Bhubaneswar (Odisha) on November 11, Kolkata (West Bengal) on November 12, Patna (Bihar) on November 13 and Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) on November 14.
JPC members will interact with their Minority Affairs Departments, Law Departments, Minority Commissions and Waqf Boards in these five state capitals. He will also meet other stakeholders including Bar Council and Muttavalli Association.
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 officers 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 from the 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. The ASI also registered its five objections to the old Waqf 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.
29 October: 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.
November 5: Daudi Vohra Samaj tells JPC – keep us out of Waqf Board purview
In the November 5 meeting, the Daudi Vohra Samaj demanded that they should be kept out of the purview of the Wakf Board, as the Wakf (Amendment) Bill does not recognize their special status. Advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the Daudi Vohra community, told the panel that it is a small and close-knit community.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
