Waqf (Amendment) Bill referred to JPC

Opposition strongly opposes the Bill, calls it attack on Constitution

A heated debate in the Lok Sabha was witnessed during the introduction of Waqf (Amendment) Bill on Thursday and later it was referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee for further scrutiny.

During the debate, the government asserted that the proposed law did not intend to interfere with the functioning of mosques but the Opposition called 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.

Introducing the Bill, Union Minority Affairs minister Kiren Rijiju faced stiff Opposition from the INDIA bloc, with Congress MP KC Venugopal accusing the government of violating the right to freedom of religion and claiming the legislation was being brought with an eye on the upcoming state assembly elections.

"This is a draconian law and a fundamental attack on the Constitution," Venugopal said, warning that the BJP's divisive politics would not be tolerated and that the party would soon target Christians and Jains.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav echoed these sentiments, alleging that the Bill was being introduced to appease the BJP's hardcore supporters.

He questioned the rationale of including non-Muslims on Waqf boards when this was not done for other religious bodies.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MP Supriya Sule went a step further, saying 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, demanding that the government withdraw the Bill and start a fair and just discussion.