New Delhi, January 24: A ruckus broke up once again in the meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) of Parliament held on Friday on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024.
Due to the ruckus, 10 opposition members were suspended from the committee proceedings for a day. Opposition members accused the committee of not listening to their side, while the BJP described the behavior of these opposition MPs as against parliamentary traditions.
In fact, in the meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Waqf Amendment Bill, clause-by-clause discussions were to be held on the proposed amendments today and tomorrow. After this, the final report is expected to be presented during the budget session of Parliament. Meanwhile, today Hurriyat Conference Chairman and Chief Maulvi of Kashmir Mirwaiz Umar Farooq met the committee with a delegation.
There was a heated argument between the ruling party and opposition members in the JPC meeting. The proceedings of the committee had to be forcibly adjourned twice due to uproar. 10 opposition members were suspended for the remaining proceedings of today due to uproar and sloganeering by opposition MPs. The MPs suspended from the committee proceedings include Kalyan Banerjee, Mohammad Javed, A Raja, Asaduddin Owaisi, Nasir Hussain, Mohibullah, M Abdullah, Arvind Sawant, Nadimul Haque and Imran Masood.
Opposition members allege that they have not got enough time to present their views on the suggestions related to amendment in Waqf. For this, they particularly targeted the MPs of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. During the meeting, Congress leader Nasir Hussain and Banerjee came out of the committee meeting and spoke to journalists in a complaining tone about the committee.
During the press conference, Trinamool leader Kalyan Banerjee alleged that the committee chairman Jagadambika Pal is not listening to the opposition members and the meeting is being run like an undeclared emergency. The chairman is taking the meeting forward without listening to anyone.
On the ruckus created by the opposition in the meeting, committee member and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Nishikant Dubey alleged that the behavior of these opposition MPs is against parliamentary traditions. Actually, they want to suppress the majority’s side. He said that today, instead of discussion, time was given to listen to Jammu and Kashmir’s Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, especially at the behest of Owaisi. Despite this, there was a ruckus.
He said that today the views of the opposition have been exposed. They created an atmosphere of ruckus and misbehaved in front of Mirwaiz. Whenever they got the mic to speak in the JPC, the opposition always tried to throttle their voice.
Another member of the committee and BJP MP Aparajita Sarangi said that today we had come here to listen to two sides, one was the organization of Jammu and Kashmir and the other was the lawyers’ association of Delhi. The members of the organization are waiting, but the opposition members led by Kalyan Banerjee are creating a ruckus. Unconstitutional language is being used for JPC Chairman Jagdambika Pal. The meeting has been postponed twice.
Before the meeting, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq told reporters that the people of Jammu and Kashmir have many concerns which we are going to put before the JPC today. We believe that no such step should be taken which spoils the atmosphere of brotherhood. Earlier today, the committee chairman Pal had said that he hoped that a good report would be prepared. A meeting will be held on January 29 to finally adopt the clauses. We will present the report in the Parliament Budget Session itself.
Earlier on January 22, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader A Raja had written a letter to Jagadambika Pal, chairman of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) constituted to consider the Waqf Amendment Bill, on behalf of the members of the opposition parties, to postpone the meeting to be held today and tomorrow to January 30-31. Raja also reiterated this today. He says that recently the JPC members have completed their tour yesterday (January 21) to know the opinion of the stakeholders in Patna, Kolkata and Lucknow. Also, the stakeholders there have been given a week’s time to send their suggestions in writing. Apart from this, the members also have some local commitments related to their area which we have to fulfill.
