A heated session of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 resulted in the suspension of several opposition members, including TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee, DMK’s A Raja, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi.

The motion for suspension, moved by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, was passed by the committee after repeated disruptions during the meeting held on Friday. The MPs were suspended for a day.

Committee Chairman Jagdambika Pal said the meeting had to be adjourned multiple times due to opposition MPs creating a ruckus, using unparliamentary language, and sloganeering. “We kept requesting them to let the invited delegation from Jammu and Kashmir speak, but they continued their protests,” Pal stated.

The opposition members expressed strong objections to the functioning of the JPC, accusing the committee of rushing into the bill in view of the Delhi Assembly elections.

Congress MP Imran Masood, who was among the suspended members, accused the committee of acting arbitrarily, alleging that the bill aims to “crush Waqf properties.”

“They are doing everything in a lot of hurry and from the very first day, it looked like they want to grab the Waqf properties…We agreed to a meeting on 25th and 26th January, now they have postponed it to 27th January. They are working arbitrarily…They are not at all serious, they just want to crush the Waqf properties…We all wanted the meeting which is to be held on 27th January to be postponed to 31st January…The situation in the JPC is not very good…,” he said.

Congress MP Md Jawaid, also suspended from the committee, echoed similar concerns, questioning the intentions behind the bill and alleging that it is part of an RSS agenda.

“We got a message at 11.30 pm that the meeting slated for January 25 is postponed to January 27. Is it right to waste MPs’ time like this? Members have come here from all the states. Are we not supposed to celebrate Republic Day with the people of our constituency?… This Waqf bill has been brought to grab the land of Masjids, Madrassas and graveyards… RSS is running an agenda that a place where Namaz is offered becomes Waqf land. We took the oath in the Parliament with ‘Bismillah’, does it make it a Waqf land? Will we claim the Parliament House? People are being misguided…,” he stated.

Meanwhile, Pal clarified that a delegation led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the chief cleric of Kashmir, was present at the meeting and would present their views before the committee. He added that the clause-by-clause discussion of the bill is scheduled for January 27, with the final report to be presented in the forthcoming Budget session of Parliament.

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