A joint parliamentary committee cleared the Waqf Amendment Bill Monday afternoon with 14 changes to the draft tabled in the House August last year. Opposition MPs on the committee led by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party‘s Jagadambika Pal had proposed 44 amendments, all of which were rejected.
The JPC had been asked to submit its report by November 29 but that deadline has since been extended – to the final day of Parliament’s Budget Session, which ends February 13.
The committee set up to study the amendments has had several hearings but many have ended in chaos after opposition MPs accused the Chair, a BJP MP, of bias towards the ruling party.
Last week opposition MPs wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to voice their concerns, saying Mr Pal was trying to “steamroll” the Waqf Amendment Bill through, with one eye on the February 5 Delhi election. The appeal came after 10 opposition MPs were suspended; they, and their colleagues, complained that hey were not being given time to study the suggested changes.
The Waqf Amendment Bill proposes numerous changes to the way Waqf boards are administered, including nominating non-Muslim and (at least two) women members.
Also, the central Waqf Council must (if the amendments are passed) include a union minister and three MPs, as also two ex-judges, four people of ‘national repute’, and senior government officials, none of whom need be from the Islamic faith.
Further, under the new rules the Waqf Council can’t claim land.
Other proposed changes are to limit donations from Muslims who have been practicing their faith for at least five years (a provision that triggered a row over the term ‘practicing Muslim’.
Sources told NDTV the idea is to empower Muslim women and children who “suffered” under the old law. However, critics, including opposition leaders like the Congress’ KC Venugopal, have said it constitutes a “direct attack on freedom of religion”.
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