The first meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill took place in the Parliament Annexe on Thursday.
A detailed presentation was made by officials of the ministry of minority affairs on the bill and its features as introduced before Parliament. Members of the ministry of law and justice were also present in the meeting.
Sources said all the opposition parties opposed the bill, calling it unconstitutional. The opposition MPs argued that interference with the Waqf Board was arbitrary and therefore the legislation must be scrapped.
Apart from violating the Constitution and its principles, they said, why should the whole meaning of waqf be changed by allowing non-Muslims and the government to interfere with its functioning, according to the sources.
In fact, some opposition lawmakers have argued that nothing can convince them that this is a pro-Muslim bill and therefore they are keen on eventually giving dissent notes, the sources added.
According to them, ruling National Democratic Alliance members Telugu Desam Party, Janata Dal (United), and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) are in support of the bill. However, in the meeting, they voiced concerns about certain clauses and were hopeful that the government would accept their suggestions, the sources said. They said that in states like Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, the clause that said anybody who wants to hold such a property has to be at least a practising Muslim for the past five years would be an acceptable thing.
Before the start of the meeting, committee chairman and BJP Lok Sabha MP Jagdambika Pal said, “The government has brought this bill with good intent, and it has 44 amendments that have been proposed. We will take into account the views of all opposition parties and leaders. The Joint Parliamentary Committee will also call the Waqf Board chairmen of all the states in its meeting on the Waqf Board Amendment Bill 2024 in the coming days. Among the minorities, no matter which sect they belong to, Deobandi or Bareilly, the committee will call all the stakeholders and the chairpersons of the Waqf Boards of the states.”
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, was introduced in the Lok Sabha on August 8. The government led by minority affairs minister Kiren Rijiju announced on the floor of the House that it was ready to send this bill for JPC scrutiny.
On August 9, the list of members who would be part of the JPC was announced. Led by Pal, the 31-member also has ruling BJP MPs Nishikant Dubey, Sanjay Jaiswal, Tejasvi Surya, and DK Aruna from the Lok Sabha. From the Rajya Sabha, the party has nominated Brij Lal and Ghulam Ali Khatana to the panel.
Among its alliance partners, the JD(U) has picked Dileshwar Kamait, the TDP has nominated Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu, and Arun Bharti has been nominated by Chirag Paswan’s LJP (RV).
From the opposition benches, Imran Masood and Syed Naseer Hussain from the Congress, Nadimul Haque and Kalyan Banerjee from the Trinamool Congress, A Raja and MM Abdulla from Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Mohibbullah Nadvi from Samajwadi Party, V Vijaysai Reddy from Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party, Sanjay Singh from Aam Aadmi Party, and Asaduddin Owaisi from All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen are among key members of this panel.
The Waqf Act, 1995, was enacted to regulate auqaf (assets donated and notified as waqf) by a waqif — the person who dedicates a property for any purpose recognised by Muslim law as pious, religious, or charitable.
On August 30, some Waqf Board people will be called before the parliamentary committee to hear their opinions. The panel will listen to the views of all stakeholders, including people from different sects like Sunni, Shia, Aga Khani, etc.
If necessary, members of the parliamentary committee can go to some big centres of the country like Lucknow, Hyderabad, etc, to meet the representatives of waqf.
In Thursday’s meeting, JPC chairman Jagdambika Pal said that anyone can give their suggestions for the Waqf Amendment Bill. For this, an advertisement will be issued through newspapers and other mediums, providing an email address and phone number for this.