Waqf JPC gets 1 cr suggestions; BJP smells ISI role, seeks probe
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on Wednesday raised a political storm after he expressed concern that more than one crore suggestions had been received by the joint parliamentary committee on Waqf (Amendment) Bill, and the sources behind these submissions needed to be probed, alleging a possible role of ISI, spiritual preacher Zakir Naik and also China behind them.
In a letter to Jagdambika Pal, the chairman of the panel, Dubey said the investigation should look into the possible roles of fundamentalist organisations and even individuals like Naik. Dubey, who is also part of the committee on the Waqf Amendment Bill, said in the letter that the geographical origin of these submissions needed immediate attention, claiming that it was statistically improbable that such an overwhelming response could emerge organically from within India alone.
He described the enormity of feedback as “unprecedented”, which, had set a global record for legislative submissions; and invited scrutiny over the motivations and sources behind these communications. Referring to media reports, he said the content of a large portion of these submissions was identical or contained minor variations, signalling that many of them might be part of an organised campaign.
Dubey added that the influence of radical Islamist preacher Zakir Naik couldn’t be underestimated, adding that there were credible concerns that Naik and his network might be involved in orchestrating the deluge of submissions.
More than 1 crore suggestions on Waqf bill jam email ID of panel. Sources aware of the developments said due to the sheer quantity of suggestions, the inbox of the panel’s email ID had been jammed, with thousands of mails with heavy attachments as feedback lying in the spam mail section of the mail ID.
Panel chairman Jagdambika Pal’s office has a staff of 15 personnel, who are continuously going through the emails and recording suggestions meticulously.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju recently said no one ever thought that the panel would receive recommendations “in crores”.
