Owaisi slams Waqf Amendment Bill, claims it rewards encroachers

Hyderabad: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) MP Asaduddin Owaisi has strongly opposed the Waqf Board Amendment Bill, describing it as undemocratic and claiming that it threatens to dismantle Waqf properties and undermine the interests of India's Muslim community. Speaking at a joint press meeting with opposition members of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), Owaisi accused the Modi-led government of having an agenda to destroy Waqf properties rather than protect them.

“The Union government wants to demolish and finish off the entire Waqf properties. These amendments are not brought to strengthen the Waqf board or remove encroachments on Waqf properties but to reward encroachers,” Owaisi asserted. He further criticized the government for attempting to impose Hindutva ideology over the Waqf Board through these amendments.

Owaisi also condemned the behavior of JPC Chairperson Jagadambika Pal during the proceedings. He alleged that Pal did not allow opposition members to propose their amendments, further accusing him of unfairly acting as both the mover and opposer of amendments proposed by the opposition. “Jagadambika Pal was not only the mover (of the bill) but also the mover of my amendment, and he is raising his hand to oppose my amendment. This is a joke,” Owaisi said. “He is the mover, he is the opposer, everything… this is obnoxious,” he added, criticizing the JPC chairperson’s actions.

Furthermore, Owaisi raised concerns about the limited time opposition members were given to review the draft report. “Tomorrow (Tuesday), the draft report will be shared with us. How is it humanly possible for all members of different political parties to read the draft report, which will not be less than 500 pages, and present objections by the 29th (Wednesday) if they don’t agree with the report?” Owaisi questioned. “You are making a mockery of the parliamentary system,” he continued, pointing out that MPs are not given sufficient time to discuss every clause in a bill, which is why standing committees and joint working committees are supposed to be formed. He added that opposition members were being marginalized in these committees.

In their joint statement, opposition MPs expressed outrage at what they termed the “wilful and wanton disregard” by JPC Chairman Jagadambika Pal. They cited several instances where they were denied time to review documents and were forced into hasty proceedings. “As the committee has arrived at its closure part of the deliberation, we the members of the opposition registered our protest both in conducting the proceedings of the JWC by the chairman as well the gross and serious deviations from the rules and procedures contemplated thereon,” the opposition members said.

The opposition MPs further objected to the manner in which the clause-by-clause considerations were rushed without proper documents or depositions. They accused Pal of ignoring their claims and moving amendments on their behalf without any discussion. “Ignoring our claims, the chairman himself called the names of the mover of the amendments (given by us) and he moved the amendments on our behalf and conducted the head counts on his own desire. And he announced the rejection of our amendments, thereby, our sincere efforts to protect the constitutional assurances given to the minorities are being defeated,” the MPs said.

The opposition MPs also slammed Pal’s unilateral approach, describing it as an effort to impose a saffron agenda on the nation. “The awkward and solo acting of the Chairman made him a painter enabling the Union government to give a saffron color to this secular nation,” they wrote.

The signatories to the statement include Kalyan Banerjee, Mohammad Jawed, A. Raja, Gaurav Gogoi, Asaduddin Owaisi, Syed Naseer Hussain, Mohibbullah, M. Abdullah, Arvind Sawant, Nadimul Haque, and Imran Masood. They appealed to the people of India to stand up for constitutional values and preserve the legacy of leaders such as Gandhi, Nehru, Ambedkar, and Vallabhbhai Patel, who worked to build a secular nation. The MPs urged the public to protect the rights of minorities and promote social harmony in the country.