10 Oppn MPs suspended for ‘disrupting’ Waqf Bill discussion in Parliamentary Committee

NEW DELHI,  (IANS):The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) meeting on the Waqf Amendment Bill on Friday turned chaotic as opposition MPs were suspended for the entire day following a heated argument. It happened during a discussion on the Waqf Amendment Bill 2024. 

At the same time, the Opposition MPs alleged that they were not given sufficient time to study the draft which was brought up for discussion.

Chaired by BJP MP Jagadambika Pal, the panel meeting was in fact set to hear a delegation led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq from Kashmir. But before the process, the meeting was disrupted by opposition MPs who raised concerns about “the speed with which the government wanted to pass the bill”, “especially considering the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections”.

As the disruption escalated, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey proposed the suspension of 10 opposition MPs for the day. The panel subsequently accepted Dubey’s proposal.

MPs namely Kalyan Banerjee, Mohammad Javed, A. Raja, Asaduddin Owaisi, Nasir  Hussain, Mohibullah, M. Abdullah, Arvind Sawant, NadimulHaque, and Imran Masood were among the suspended members. Dubey accused the opposition of using unparliamentary language. He alleged that they were trying to suppress the majority's voice.

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who appeared before the committee after the suspension, expressed his strong opposition to the Waqf Amendment Bill, stressing that the government should not intervene in religious matters. Farooq further pointed out they hoped their suggestions would be heard and implemented. The aim should be to ensure that Muslims do not feel marginalised by any proposed changes, he remarked.

Before being suspended, opposition MPs, including Kalyan Banerjee of TMC and Congress member Syed Nasir Hussain, walked out of the meeting. They accused the proceedings of becoming a "farce." They demanded that the meeting be postponed until January 30 or 31 to allow for a detailed, clause-by-clause discussion.

Banerjee even described the atmosphere as resembling an "undeclared emergency" where the chairman was not listening to anyone.

Dubey meanwhile claimed that the opposition’s behaviour was against parliamentary traditions, and their attempts to disrupt the meeting were an affront to democratic norms.

ArvindSawant, a Shiv Sena (UBT) MP, flayed the “hasty handling” of such an important Bill, which, according to him, could potentially cause unrest in the country. He asked as to why the Bill was being rushed through the committee process when there should be a proper discussion.