Waqf (Amendment) Bill: INDIA bloc leaders threaten to boycott Parl joint panel meet

Opposition INDIA bloc leaders on Thursday threatened to walkout from the meeting of the Parliamentary joint panel on Waqf (Amendment) Bill and even complain to Speaker Om Birla if the committee tried to rush through the discussions on the controversial legislation amid speculations that the Centre is keen on bring it during the Winter Session of Parliament.

According to sources, tempers rose during the meeting of the panel held to discuss the contentious Bill after its chairman BJP MP Jagdambika Pal reportedly suggested that they should try and meet at least three to four times in a week to expedite the discussion on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill.

This was objected to by several leaders of INDIA bloc parties, who threatened to walkout from the proceedings of the meeting. They even indicated to Jagdambika Pal that if he tried to hurry through the discussions on the controversial Bill, then the matter will be reported to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.

Meanwhile, the committee heard submissions from officials of the Road Transport, Railway and Urban Development Ministries.

Sources said Union Urban Development Ministry officials made a presentations before the committee and stated that around 340 sq ft of the government land, which includes 138 properties in Delhi and NCR, was currently under dispute with the Waqf authorities since 1970s.

However, when ministry officials indicated that disputes could be resolved once the Waqf Amendment Bill was passed, TMC’s Kalyan Banerji sought to know how the lands could be termed disputed if these were under the possession of the government as informed by the officials.

A Rajya Sabha woman BJP MP sought a list of mosques and ‘mazars’, which are located alongside railway tracks, from Railway Ministry officials who had also been invited by the panel to depose before it.