Opposition MPs stage walk out of joint committee meeting on Waqf Bill

The opposition members rejoined the meeting after staying away for nearly one hour.

New Delhi: Several opposition MPs walked out of a meeting of the joint committee on the Waqf Bill on Tuesday, October 15, alleging a BJP member had made derogatory remarks about them.

Opposition members, including Kalyan Banerjee, Gaurav Gogoi, A Raja, Mohamed Abdulla, and Arvind Sawant, stormed out of the parliamentary panel’s meeting. The panel was hearing a presentation from representatives of the ministry of minority affairs on the bill.

Also Read
Essential to ‘expose conspiracy’ to seize waqf properties through waqf bill: Jamiat chief

The opposition members rejoined the meeting after staying away for nearly one hour.

However, BJP members claimed that the opposition members were abusing the chairman of the committee Jagadambika Pal.

This is the second consecutive day opposition members have walked out of the meeting following differences.

Earlier they have submitted a formal request to the Lok Sabha speaker, demanding the removal of the committee chairman and seeking a meeting to address their concerns.

Opposition members have claimed that a presentation on the Waqf Amendment Bill by Anwar Manippadi, the former chairman of the Karnataka minorities commission and Karnataka minorities development corporation, was unrelated to the bill itself.

What is the Waqf Amendment Bill, 2024?

Under the Waqf Amendment Bill, Waqf properties must be registered with the district collector’s office for evaluation. It specifies that any property identified or declared as Waqf property by the government, before or after the Act’s commencement, will not be considered waqf property.

The district collector will have the final authority to determine whether a property is a waqf or government land. Once decided, the collector will update the revenue records and report to the state government. The property will not be recognized as Waqf until the collector’s report is submitted.

Furthermore, disputes with Waqf board decisions can now be appealed to high courts. The Bill also proposes removing provisions that currently allow properties to be considered Waqf based on oral declarations or disputes, which were previously acceptable under Islamic law until formal documentation (waqfnama) was established. Without a valid waqfnama, a property will be deemed suspect or disputed and cannot be used until the district collector makes a final decision.