Oppn MPs indicate move to disassociate from Parliament panel on Waqf Bill
unhappy over Chair's functioning
New Delhi, Nov 4: Opposition MPs in the parliamentary committee scrutinising the Waqf (Amendment) Bill are scheduled to meet Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday to protest its chairperson Jagdambika Pal's alleged "unilateral" decisions and attempts to "bulldoze" proceedings, indicating that they may disassociate themselves from the panel.
Claiming that they have been "stonewalled" during the committee's proceedings, opposition MPs have listed their grievances, including objections against the proposed law, in the letter addressed to Birla.
Senior counsel Harish Salve is likely to appear before the parliamentary panel on Tuesday on behalf of the Dawoodi Bohra community.
Opposition sources said they have prepared a joint letter – signed by a number of MPs, including Congress's Mohammad Jawed and Imran Masood, DMK's Raja, AIMIM's Asaduddin Owaisi, AAP's Sanjay Singh and TMC's Kalyan Banerjee – that will be submitted it to the Speaker on Tuesday.
They accused Pal, a four-term MP representing the BJP, of taking "unilateral decisions" on fixing the dates of sittings -- which were at times for three consecutive days -- and whom to call as witnesses.
They said it is not practically possible for MPs to interact with deposers with adequate preparation.
The committee's proceedings have been marred by frequent protests from opposition members over a host of issues, while the BJP members have accused them of deliberately trying to scuttle its work.
With the Bill taking on distinct political hues and both the ruling BJP and the opposition INDIA bloc firm on their stand in favour and against it respectively, the panel's meetings have often resembled a political battleground as it works in overdrive to meet its deadline of the first week of Parliament's winter session.
In their joint letter, opposition MPs will urge Birla to direct Pal to have a formal consultation with members of the committee before taking any decision to assure the country that the committee is functioning in a free and fair manner, without any bias and departure from the established parliamentary procedures.
"Otherwise, we humbly submit that we may be forced to disassociate with the committee once for all as we have been stonewalled," it said.
Asserting that the joint committee of Parliament examining the Bill is like a mini Parliament, they said the panel should not be treated as a mere "ventilating chamber" to get the proposed legislation passed as "desired" by the government, ignoring the due process.
Not giving reasonable time against the will of the committee's members is nothing but an act of "atrocious onslaught on the Constitutional religion and Parliament".
Opposition MPs have also recorded their strong reservations against the Bill, claiming that the government's step is nothing but a surreptitious attempt to mitigate the earlier legislations of 1995 and 2013, enacted by Parliament with due care ensuring the secular credentials of the Constitution.
They alleged that the bill proposes over 100 amendments to the existing Act against the government's claim of only 44 changes.
They alleged, "Out of these amendments, we are reasonably confined to express our fear that the religious, spiritual and moral fabrics of a legal institution i.e. Waqf Board are going to be erased which will tarnish our country's image in the eye of the world community on minority rights guaranteed in our Constitution," they said.
For these reasons, the committee's sittings must be decided in such a manner to allow adequate time to discuss and deliberate every clause of the Bill, including Parliament's legislative competency.
Pal has rejected the charge that he has not allowed opposition members to air their views, asserting that he has ensured everybody's heard.
Opposition members had written to the Speaker last month as well to highlight the alleged "gross violation of rules" in the committee's functioning.
The BJP-led NDA members had also gone to Birla once after TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee smashed a glass bottle during the panel's meeting and allegedly threw it towards Pal, who was unharmed. Banerjee, though, ended up injuring his two fingers.
A number of Muslim groups, including Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, appeared before the committee on Monday to register views on the Bill.
While Jamaat-e-Islami Hind opposed the amendments, several other groups, including the Muslim Women Intellectual Group led by Shalini Ali and Vishwa Shanti Parishad led by Faiz Ahmad Faiz supported the changes.
Ali wanted the Waqf boards to spell out the steps it had taken to help in the education of orphans and pensions for divorced women, and wanted them to set targets in this regard.
She also wanted the Waqf boards to give up claims on lands that had temples and mosques for several years and cited the example of Gyanvapi in Varanasi.
Maulana Kaukab Mujtaba of the Ulema Foundation wanted the government to set up a separate Central Waqf Board for the Shia sect of Muslims.
He also wanted the Centre to take action against the misuse of Waqf properties by passing the Waqf Amendment Bill in Parliament.
Mujtaba also wanted the government to register FIR against Muttawalli of Waqf properties who failed to pay the required taxes after the audit.
Faiz of the Vishwa Shanti Parishad objected to the appointment of the Collector as the surveyor of Waqf properties and the authority to decide on their ownership.
He said such roles should be delegated to the Additional District Magistrates from the Muslim community.
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UP Police use tear gas to disperse crowd throwing stones during Sambhal mosque survey
Sambhal (UP) (PTI): Police used tear gas and "minor force" in the face of stone pelting by locals here on Sunday as tension escalated during a second survey of the Mughal-era mosque, claimed to be originally the site of an ancient Hindu temple.
Tension has been seething in Sambhal over the past few days after the Jama Masjid was surveyed last Tuesday on the orders of a local court following a petition that claimed that a Harihar temple stood at the site.
According to the local administration, a second survey by an "Advocate Commissioner" as part of a court-ordered examination into the disputed site began around 7 am and a crowd began gathering at the spot.
"Some miscreants came out of the crowd gathered near the site and pelted stones at the police team. The police used minor force and tear gas to bring the situation under control," Superintendent of Police Krishna Kumar Vishnoi said.
He said those who engaged in stone pelting and those who incited them will be identified and action taken against them.
District Magistrate Rajendra Pesia said, "Some miscreants resorted to stone pelting but the situation is peaceful now and the survey is underway."
Videos of youths throwing stones at police, purportedly near the site of the survey in Sambhal have surfaced on the Internet.
Supreme Court lawyer Vishnu Shankar Jain, who is also the petitioner in the case, had said the Court of Civil Judge (Senior Division) ordered the constitution of an "Advocate Commission" to survey the mosque.
The court has said that a report should be filed after conducting a videography and photography survey through the commission, he had said.
The Central and Uttar Pradesh governments, the mosque committee and the district magistrate of Sambhal have been made parties in the petition concerning the mosque, Jain said last Tuesday.
Vishnu Shankar Jain and his father Hari Shankar Jain have represented the Hindu side in many cases related to places of worship, including the Gyanvapi Mosque-Kashi Vishwanath temple dispute.
Gopal Sharma, a local lawyer for the Hindu side, told PTI on Friday that in his petition filed in the court, he mentioned that "Baburnama" and the "Ain-e-Akbari" has confirmed that a Harihar temple was at the site where the Jama Masjid now stands.
He also claimed that the temple was demolished by Mughal Emperor Babur in 1529.
Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Zia Ur Rehman Barq had objected to the developments.
"The Jama Masjid of Sambhal is historical and very old. The Supreme Court had given the order in 1991 that whatever religious places are there in whatever condition since 1947, they will remain at their places," he had said.
The next date for hearing in this case is January 29.
VIDEO | Uttar Pradesh: Stones and slippers pelted in Sambhal when a survey team reached Shahi Jama Masjid to conduct a survey of the mosque.
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 24, 2024
(Full video available on PTI Videos - https://t.co/n147TvrpG7)#SambhalJamaMasjid pic.twitter.com/K4QGGpzlMK
