Opposition MPs staged a walkout from the Rajya Sabha on Thursday in protest against the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) report on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, alleging that it was "biased" and "one-sided".
They further claimed that dissent notes submitted by panel members had been omitted from the report.
JMM MP Mahua Maji and AAP MP Sanjay Singh warned that the government’s move was only the beginning, alleging that similar measures would soon be taken to "grab" the lands of other religious institutions.
Speaking to reporters, Maji remarked, "The INDIA Alliance staged a walkout against the report of the JPC on the Waqf Amendment Bill. The JPC has been biased. Today, the government is eyeing the land belonging to the Waqf; tomorrow, they will grab the properties of other religions."
Panel member and Congress MP Dr Syed Naseer Hussain criticised the proceedings, asserting that due process had not been followed and key portions of the dissent notes were deliberately obscured.
Hussain also accused Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju of "lying". "It (JPC report on Waqf) is biased and one-sided. The procedures were not followed in the JPC. Non-stakeholders were called, 97% of them opposed this bill. We were not given the minutes of the meeting... Key parts of our dissent notes were blurred, and the minister of minority affairs lied about it," he stated.
AAP MP Sanjay Singh expressed his disappointment, noting that the opposition's objections had not been incorporated.
"It is disappointing that the Opposition's dissent notes have not been included in the report... This is just the beginning. Soon, they will bring a bill to possess the lands of Gurdwaras, Temples and Churches and give this land to their capitalist friends."
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Meanwhile, AIMIM MP and JPC member Asaduddin Owaisi revealed that a delegation of Lok Sabha MPs, including A Raja, Kalyan Banerjee, Imran Masood, Mohammad Jawed, and Gaurav Gogoi, had met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to highlight that several pages and paragraphs of their dissent notes had been redacted.
Following their appeal, the Speaker instructed the Secretary-General to restore whatever portions were permissible under parliamentary rules.
"Later, we sat in the Parliamentary library and included most of the redacted pages in the report, which will be presented in the Lok Sabha at 2 pm... The paragraphs that expressed aspersions on the working of the committee were not included since they were against the rules," Owaisi explained.
Earlier in the day, both houses of Parliament witnessed an uproar over the issue, with the Lok Sabha being adjourned till 2 pm amid opposition protests, while the Rajya Sabha also saw heated exchanges.
Congress National President and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, strongly opposed the JPC report, arguing that dissent notes from opposition members had been removed.
The Waqf Act of 1995, which was enacted to regulate Waqf properties, has faced persistent criticism over issues of mismanagement, corruption, and encroachments.
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, seeks to address these concerns by introducing reforms such as digitisation, enhanced audits, improved transparency, and legal mechanisms for reclaiming illegally occupied properties.
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