Kumar Bahukhandi
Members of the Joint Committee of Parliament – Photo: ANI
On the JPC meeting held in the Parliament premises on the Waqf Amendment Bill 2024, Kalyan Banerjee said that an atmosphere like an undeclared emergency is prevailing in the meeting. The Chairman is taking this meeting forward and he is not listening to anyone. BJP MP Nishikant Dubey said that the thinking and viewpoint of the opposition has been exposed. They created a ruckus and misbehaved in front of Mirwaiz. This is against parliamentary democracy.
Opposition members of the JPC met the Lok Sabha Speaker on the Waqf Bill. – Photo: PTI
Round of allegations and counter-allegations
Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee and Congress’ Syed Nasir Hussain walked out of the meeting. They said that the proceedings of the committee have become a farce. They demanded that the meeting scheduled for January 27 to consider the proposed amendments clause-wise be postponed till January 30 or 31. Nishikant Dubey criticized the opposition members and said that their conduct is against parliamentary tradition and they are trying to suppress the voice of the majority.
What did Mirwaiz say?
Before appearing before the committee, Mirwaiz said that he strongly opposes the Waqf Amendment Bill and supports non-interference of the government in matters of religion. We hope that our suggestions will be heard and implemented. No such step should be taken which makes Muslims feel uncomfortable. This is the first time that Mirwaiz, the head of the almost defunct separatist group Hurriyat Conference, has stepped out of the Kashmir Valley after the special status of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state was abolished.
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey – Photo: ANI
Undeclared emergency-like atmosphere in the meeting: Banerjee
Kalyan Banerjee said that an undeclared emergency-like atmosphere is prevailing in the meeting. The chairman is pushing this meeting forward and he is not listening to anyone. We were told that the meeting will be held on 24 and 25 January. Now the agenda for today’s meeting has been changed from clause-by-clause discussion.
Nishikant Dubey cornered Owaisi
Nishikant Dubey said that the opposition people, especially Owaisi sahab, think that we did not listen to the full representation of Jammu and Kashmir and called Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. It was only to listen to him that the JPC chairman adjourned the meeting and held clause-by-clause discussion. Today the thinking and viewpoint of the opposition has been exposed. They created a ruckus in front of Mirwaiz and misbehaved. This is against parliamentary democracy.
‘The opposition wants to suppress the voice of the majority’
He said that even if there was a meeting for clause-by-clause discussion today and tomorrow, another meeting would have been held on January 27 or January 28. The meeting was already scheduled for January 27. The opposition wants to suppress the voice of the majority. Most members have suggested a meeting on January 27. We will submit the report to the chairman on January 29. Whenever I have taken the mic to speak in the JPC, the opposition has always tried to suppress my voice.
Shiv Sena leader Arvind Sawant. – Photo: PTI
‘I am unable to understand what kind of hurry’
After the suspension, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant said that I am unable to understand what kind of hurry the JPC is running with a dictatorial attitude. This is an important bill, which can create chaos in the country, but it is not being dealt with that way. It was said that there would be clause-by-clause discussion, but today people came from Jammu and Kashmir and that clause-by-clause discussion was postponed to January 27.
‘At 11:40 pm we got a message that the agenda was changed’
In the matter, DMK MP A Raja said that the JPC was on tour on the 18th, 19th and 20th of this month. The last session of the tour was completed on the 21st. During the meeting, information was received from the secretariat that the meeting would be held on the 24th. We immediately protested in front of the chairman. We were on tour on the 21st. We are going to leave the same night. How can we be called on the 24th? Because we had to go back to our constituencies. They clearly said they will consider. On January 21, we got another notice, requesting all members to give their amendments within 48 hours. We all immediately gave the amendments and they wanted to discuss it on the 24th, but at 11:40 pm last night we got a message that the agenda has been changed.
