Waqf Amendment Bill referred to JPC panel; Oppn says it 'draconian', aimed at upcoming polls

New Delhi: The Waqf (Amendment) Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha on Thursday and referred to a joint parliamentary panel after a heated debate, with the government asserting the proposed law did not intend to interfere with the functioning of mosques and the opposition calling it targeting of Muslims and an attack on the Constitution.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said he will talk with leaders of all parties for constituting the joint parliamentary committee.

Soon after Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju sought leave to introduce the Bill, opposition INDIA bloc MPs strongly protested the introduction of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, calling it an "attack" on the Constitution and aimed at targeting Muslims.

Congress MP K C Venugopal, who had submitted notice to oppose its introduction, accused the government of violating the right to freedom of religion and claimed the legislation was being brought with an eye on the upcoming assembly polls.

"This is a draconian law and a fundamental attack on the Constitution," Venugopal said.

He said people taught the BJP a lesson -- in the Lok Sabha polls -- for its divisive politics but it is continuing with the same, keeping in mind the upcoming assembly elections in states such as Maharashtra. "It is a direct attack on freedom of religion....Next you will go for Christians, then Jains," he said.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said the Bill was being introduced to appease the BJP's hardcore supporters. "What is the point of including non-Muslims in Waqf boards when this is not done in other religious bodies?" Yadav asked.

"The truth is that the BJP has brought this Bill to appease its hardcore supporters," the Kannauj MP said, adding that it was brought with an eye on the polls.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)-Sharadchandra Pawar MP Supriya Sule said her party opposed the Bill as it was against a particular minority community. "Look at what is happening in Bangladesh, there is so much pain. It is the moral duty of a country to protect minorities," she said.

"The government should clarify the intent and the timing of the Bill. We object, withdraw this Bill. Let's discuss it and then bring a Bill that is fair and just," she demanded.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chairperson Asaduddin Owaisi claimed that the House did not have the competence to make the amendments. "It is a grave attack on the basic structure of the Constitution as it violates the principle of judicial independence and separation of powers," he said.

"You are enemies of Muslims and this Bill is evidence of that," Owaisi said.

Strongly defending the bill and hitting out at the Congress, Rijiju said the Wakf Act of 1995 did not serve its purpose and the amendments were necessitated as the Congress could not achieve the reform it should have.

"Because you couldn't do it, we had to bring these amendments...Some people have captured Waqf boards and this Bill has been brought to give justice to ordinary Muslims," he said. He claimed that many leaders in the opposition had privately told him that state Waqf boards had turned into a mafia.

"I won't take their names and destroy their political careers," Rijiju said.

He said in the earlier law, there was no provision to challenge or review the order or judgement of the tribunal. Now, provision was being made for verdicts to be challenged at higher courts, the minister said.

"In our country, no law can be a super law and that can't be above the Constitution. However, in the 1995 Wakf Act, there are provisions that are above the provisions in the Constitution. Shouldn't that be changed?" he asked.

"The wrongs which you have done, now, we are correcting those," Rijiju said, hitting out at the Congress.

He asserted the government had conducted thorough consultations at all levels, and also cited cases such as an entire village in Tamil Nadu being declared Waqf land to underline the need for reforms in the law.

The opposition shouldn't see such issues through the prism of religion, he said and accused it of misleading Muslims.

Similarly, the Surat municipal corporation headquarters was declared Waqf property, he said and asked how is this possible.

He assured Waqf board income will be used only for the welfare of the Muslim community. "It is my good fortune that being non-Muslim, I am getting opportunity to bring a Bill for welfare of Muslims," he said.

Rijiju also introduced a Bill to repeal the Mussalman Wakf Act, 1923. Its statement of objects and reasons stated that the colonial-era legislation has become outdated and inadequate for effective management of Waqf property in modern India.

NDA allies JD(U), TDP, Shiv Sena and LJP backed the Bill amend the 1995 Act, saying it was aimed at bringing transparency in the functioning of the Waqf Boards and was not an attempt to interfere with the running of mosques.

JD(U) leader and Union minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh 'Lalan' said, "Several members are making it sound as if the amendment in the Waqf Board law is anti-Muslim. How is it anti-Muslim? Here example of Ayodhya is being given... Can you not differentiate between a temple and an institution?" "This isn't an attempt to interfere with (functioning of) mosques. This law is for the institution, to make it transparent... How was the Waqf Board formed?" he said, and himself replied that it was through a law.

The Bill to amend the law governing Waqf boards proposes far-reaching changes in the 1995 Act, including ensuring representation of Muslim women and non-Muslims in such bodies.

According to its statement of objects and reasons, the Bill seeks to omit Section 40 of the current law relating to the powers of the board to decide if a property is Waqf property.

It provides for a broad-based composition of the Central Waqf Council and state Waqf boards, and proposes to establish a separate board of Auqaf for Boharas and Aghakhanis. It provides for representation of Shias, Sunnis, Bohras, Agakhanis and other backward classes among Muslims.

The Waqf (Amendment) Bill also aims at renaming the Act as the Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development Act, 1995.