Opposition MPs meet President Om Birla
Opposition MPs have raised the demand to extend the mandate of Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) of Waqf Board (Amendment) Bill 2024. Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi and Opposition MPs met on Monday with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and submitted a bill and a letter of request demanding extension of the mandate of the Joint Working Committee of the Board of the Waqf. In this regard, Asaduddin Owaisi gave information through Twitter and said that the president has assured that he will positively consider the parliamentarians’ request.
In a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, the opposition members said: ‘We are writing to request you to extend the mandate of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Waqf Bill for an appropriate period. It should be noted that the committee held its first meeting on August 22 and since then 25 meetings have been held, where presentations were made on behalf of irrelevant organizations. The state governments of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi are yet to appear before the committee. Some other interested parties are still seeking time to present their views before the committee.
We have met the Honorable Speaker of Lok Sabha. @ombirlakota and requested that the mandate of the JWC be extended, the @ombirlakota He said that he will positively consider the parliamentarians’ request pic.twitter.com/BBJJJVMhV9
—Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) November 25, 2024
The letter further states that the Waqf Amendment Bill is a comprehensive law, which includes many important changes in the existing laws. These changes will affect a large section of India’s population. Therefore, a three-month period for deliberations is considered inadequate and may lead to unfair recommendations. The mandate of the committee should be expanded to carry out proper consultations and deliberations. Receiving the letter, the Lok Sabha Speaker assured MPs that he would consider the request.
Waqf Board Amendment Bill, 2024
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 is the first major law introduced by the Modi 3.0 government, which has created a lot of controversy between Muslim organizations and the opposition. This bill, introduced in Parliament in August this year, contains a provision to simplify the Waqf property registration process through a central portal. There is also a proposal to rename the Waqf Act, 1995 as the Integrated Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development Act.
