New Delhi: The report of the joint committee of Parliament on the Waqf bill was tabled in the Rajya Sabha amid uproar on Thursday, with the proceedings briefly adjourned following a heated debate between the treasury and the opposition benches.
Opposition MPs led by Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that dissent notes were deleted from the report, a charge denied by Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju.
The report on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill was tabled by BJP member Medha Vishram Kulkarni, a member of the panel.
Opposition uproar
The tabling of the report was followed by uproar by members from the opposition benches.
The clamour continued as Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar tried to read out a message from President Droupadi Murmu.
“Don’t show disrespect to the president of India…” Dhankhar said and urged Kharge to ask the opposition members to take their seats.
As the uproar continued, the Upper House was adjourned till 11:20 am.
When the Upper House reconvened, the chairman read out the message from the president that she had received the expression of thanks by members of the Rajya Sabha on her address to a joint sitting of Parliament on January 31.
When the chairman tried to proceed with the Zero Hour, opposition members continued to protest and some MPs trooped into the well of the House.
Leader of the House JP Nadda regretted that the Rajya Sabha was not in order when the president’s message was read out.
Chairman Dhankhar said Samirul Islam, Nadimul Haque and M Mohamed Abdulla “created chaos and disruption in the House”.
Kharge was then called to speak.
Kharge calls out deletion of dissent notes
The Congress chief said the dissent notes of opposition MPs in the report on the Waqf bill were redacted from the report.
“The report of the joint committee of Parliament on Waqf… in which several members had given their dissent note has been taken out. Bulldozing the report by only keeping the views of the majority members is not right. It is condemnable, anti-democratic,” he said.
Calling it a “fake report”, he said it should be withdrawn and sent back to a committee.
The MPs are protesting not for personal reasons but because of the injustice being done to a community, he said.
“This is not about any individual… These MPs are not protesting for their own sake, they are protesting for the community against which injustice is being done,” Kharge said.
DMK’s Tiruchi Siva and AAP’s Sanjay Singh also objected to the alleged removal of dissent notes from the report.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rijiju, however, denied the charge.
“There is no deletion or removal of any part of the report. Don’t mislead the House. Opposition members (are) making unnecessary issues. The allegation is false,” he said.
Union ministers Bhupender Yadav and Nirmala Sitharaman also accused the opposition parties of misleading the Upper House, prompting another heated exchange between the treasury and the opposition benches.
The Congress’ Syed Nasir Hussain accused Rijiju — who is also the Union minority affairs minister — of misleading the House and said, “My own dissent note has been redacted.”
TMC member Saket Gokhale said it was not a “religious” but a “Constitutional issue”.
Rijiju reiterated that the report had all annexures and nothing was taken out.
The opposition MPs then staged a walkout and the House proceeded with the Question Hour.
What is the Waqf Amendment Bill?
The proposed Bill seeks a comprehensive overhaul of the governance of Waqf boards, which manage properties donated by the Muslim community for religious and charitable purposes.
Key provisions of the bill include the mandatory inclusion of at least two non-Muslim members on state Waqf boards and the appointment of a government official to arbitrate disputes over whether a property qualifies as Waqf property.
The final report of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) was submitted to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on January 30 after months of deliberations. The amended bill was adopted by the panel on January 29, with 14 amendments proposed by the ruling NDA approved, while changes suggested by opposition MPs were rejected.
