The Youth News Conference once again caused an uproar.
The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) constituted under the Waqf Amendment Bill 2024 met on Monday. Again there was a huge commotion. During the presentation by the Ministry of Minority Affairs, a heated debate broke out between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, NDA MPs and Opposition MPs. During the meeting, opposition lawmakers said the central government had not considered the need to introduce the bill until a year ago. In response, the opposition quoted the then Minority Affairs Minister Smriti Irani as saying.
Opposition members of the committee said Iran’s Islamic Parliament had agreed at the time that all issues related to waqf properties could be resolved faster by formulating a plan. Opposition MPs asked questions, which were also mentioned in the ministry’s presentations and documents. Under these circumstances, why does the government feel the need to introduce this bill in a hurry?
Owaisi delivers a speech before JPC
Opposition MPs claimed that the bill was introduced only for political reasons and targeted the Muslim community. During this period, a heated debate took place between the BJP MPs and the Opposition MPs. At the beginning of the meeting, Asaduddin Owaisi also gave a presentation on the proposal of the Waqf Bill before the JPC for about an hour. He listed the shortcomings. Even as Owaisi delivered his speech, a heated argument broke out between Owaisi and the BJP MPs.
During the meeting, TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee asked the JPC whether the JPC and the central government believed that Allah was legitimate. Allah is legal. Are religious funds established in the name of Allah also legal? Should the central government clarify whether waqfs are statutory bodies?
Committee meetings last approximately 7 hours
Amid the uproar, the meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Religious Endowments Bill lasted about seven hours. Commission chairman Jagdambika Pal attended the meeting a little later. When the MPs knew that today was his birthday, the ruling and opposition MPs cut cakes together and fed each other.
However, the committee also convened a meeting with a number of stakeholders yesterday. Here Odisha Real Justice, Panchshakha Prachar and Odisha Bani Mandali Cuttack were invited to participate in the first session. In the second meeting, five MPs from the Indian Muslim League (IUML) were summoned to state their position.