Uproar, protest and altercation… How the controversy escalated in the meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on the Waqf Bill

New Delhi: The meeting of the Joint Committee of Parliament on the Wakf (Amendment) Bill on Friday witnessed a heated debate and many members vehemently opposed some provisions of the proposed law. Opposition members also walked out of the meeting for some time. The committee, headed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member Jagdambika Pal, heard the views of the All India Sunni Jamiatul Ulema and Indian Muslims for Civil Rights (IMCR), Uttar Pradesh Sunni Wakf Board and Rajasthan Muslim Wakf Board in the meeting that lasted for about eight hours.

The provisions for ‘declaration of waqf by user’, empowering the District Collector as the primary authority in determining classification of property as waqf, and inclusion of non-Muslims in the Central Waqf Council and state boards witnessed controversy.

Sources say that some remarks made by BJP member Dilip Saikia against Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh led to a heated exchange between the opposition and ruling party members. There was chaos during the meeting as objections were raised to the presence of a lawyer representing both Indian Muslims for Civil Rights and Rajasthan Board of Muslim Waqf.

Opposition members, including Congress MPs Mohd Javed and Imran Masood, Arvind Sawant (Shiv Sena-UBT), Sanjay Singh (AAP), Asaduddin Owaisi (AIMIM), DMK’s A Raja, Samajwadi Party’s Mohibullah Mohammed walked out of the meeting for a while over the issue of presence of the lawyer.

Opposition members also expressed concern over the removal of the user provision in the Waqf Act. Opposition members argued that the ownership of more than one lakh properties notified under Waqf by user provision in Uttar Pradesh would be in limbo due to the removal of the said provision and could open the way for encroachment. They argued that by legally recognising the evidence rule of ‘Waqf by user’, historical sites continuously used as Waqf would be protected.

Sources said that the meeting also witnessed a heated exchange between BJP member Medha Kulkarni and Owaisi. The next meetings of the committee are scheduled for September 5-6 and it is understood that the chairman of the committee is keen to extend the series of meetings for discussions among various stakeholders.

The bill is the first major initiative of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government aimed at reforming the process of registration of waqf properties. The bill proposes several reforms, including the establishment of a Central Waqf Council, along with state waqf boards with representation from Muslim women and non-Muslim representatives.