The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) looking into the Waqf (Amendment) Bill might not make it before the next deadline of the Budget session of Parliament, which starts on January 30. This indicates that the BJP wants to make the waqf issue as its part of political agenda after exhausting the Article 370 and Ram Mandir issues.
The committee led by BJP MP Jagdambika Pal missed the first deadline of the just ended winter session of Parliament and is now expected to give its findings on the final day of the Budget session which would end on February 12.
The JPC was constituted in August following a stiff opposition from Opposition parties as well as some allies of the ruling NDA against the introduction of the controversial Waqf Bill. The committee consists of 31 members, including 21 Lok Sabha MPs and 10 Rajya Sabha members.
Those aware of the developments told Radiance that the BJP-led government may now push the report until the Monsoon session because the committee won’t be able to finish its job by the deadline.
A committee member stated in a chat with Radiance that the consortium cannot fulfil the deadline because it will take a long time to document the concerns of thousands of witnesses.
All Opposition members in the panel accused the Chairman Jagdambika Pal of not following due procedure in the conduct of proceedings. They claimed that the proceedings were handled in a “biased and partisan” manner by Pal.
Radiance has been told by one of the panel’s Opposition members that theyare pressuring the chairman to pay attention to stakeholders who have valid concerns. The committee has not followed proper process till today.
A glaring example was inviting former Karnataka Minorities Commission chief Anwar Manipaddy, who made unfounded allegations against the Karnataka government and Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge.
He said the committee members objected to Kharge’s absence, arguing that it violated his constitutional status, but the chairman let Manipaddy continue without giving them a chance to voice their concerns. Pal’s decision, according to the MPs, was in violation of basic procedural standards, particularly the “Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha,” which limit talks on sub-judice topics and demand notice for defamatory claims.
Opposition leaders also went to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in this regard, accusing Pal of a “gross violation” of parliamentary conduct at the JPC hearing on the Waqf Bill. The JPC opposition members also sent a letter to the speaker. They warned that they might be forced to disassociate with JPC as “they have been stonewalled”.
In the letter, they claim that the committee was not authorised to invite Manipaddy to testify. Manipaddy, who brought a document headlined“Presentation on the Waqf Amendment Bill 2012 based on Karnataka Waqf Scam Report 2012,” was recognised by the MPs as the chairman of Karnataka State Minorities Commission and former vice president of Karnataka BJP.
The JPC opposition members’ letter said that the constitution of JPC, i.e. a mini Parliament, should not be treated as a mere ventilating chamber to get the Bill passed as desired by the Union government, ignoring the Parliamentary process by using ‘majority’ undemocratically.
“It is our duty to bring to your notice with pain that bulldozing the proceedings of the JPC without assigning reasonable and plausible time pause as against the will of the members is nothing but an act of atrocious onslaught on the Constitutional religion and the Parliament,” it said.
The letter was signed by several prominent Opposition leaders, including Congress MPs Gaurav Gogoi and Naseer Hussain, AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi, TMC’s Kalyan Banerjee, AAP’s Sanjay Singh, DMK’s A Raja and Shiv Sena’s Arvind Sawant, among others.
Besides, delay in the report is due to the ruling NDA’s allies’ opposition. According to sources, TDP and JD(U), two critical pillars of the government’s survival, have strongly opposed the proposed legislation, which is another important factor for postponing the report. Most of the reforms, notably the appointment of non-Muslims to state Waqf Boards and the Central Waqf Council, have been opposed by all Muslim organisations in the country.
However, a BJP leader said the government has not promised TDP or JD(U) that the contentious proposals will be changed in any way. In light of the upcoming assembly elections in Bihar, the JD(U) doesn’t want to jeopardise its chances of winning. He further added that the TDP and JD(U) enjoy a strong support base of minorities in their states.
After the faceoff with the Opposition, the panel requested an extension even though the government had scheduled the Waqf measure for passage during the winter session which was held from November 25 to December 20, 2024.
These tactics of the ruling party suggest that it would want to stretch the waqf issue for emotional exploitation of the gullible masses as it did during the so-called Ramjanmabhumi agitation. After the Ram Mandir was built on the 500-year-old Babri Masjid site last year, RSS and BJP feel they were bereft of any emotional issue to galvanise the caste-ridden society. They believe, like Babri Masjid, the Waqf issue could be a useful tool.
The frequent statements from BJP leaders reinforced this perception. Recently UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath made a statement about Waqf properties. Speaking at MahaKumbhMahasammelan organised by a private news channel in Lucknow, Yogi said,“It is hard to tell whether it is a Waqf Board or a board of land mafias.” He said his government has amended the Waqf Act and is actively investigating all “occupied” lands. Although Yogi is known for making such provocative and communally-tinged remarks, it was not the occasion to bring in the waqf issue. His statement suggests that the party wants to employ this issue for political purposes in the coming days.
RSS was also swung into action. Its leader Indresh Kumar, who runs Muslim RashtriyaManch (MRM), alleged that “Politicians are misleading and inciting Muslims on the issue of amendments in the Waqf Amendment Bill.”
Kumar, who was in Lucknow to preside over anMRM meeting, said, “Despite controlling extensive land and financial resources, waqf boards have failed to do any social work for the Muslim community.”
Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, who tabled the waqf amendment bill on August 8, also admitted that the waqf issue is a political issue. At the Haj conference held in Delhi, when this correspondent confronted him on waqf subject, he said it was a political issue that needed to be discussed separately.