On Monday, opposition members of the joint parliamentary committee on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill left the panel meeting once more, claiming that the committee was inviting those who had “no stake in the Waqf Amendment Bill for oral evidence.”
Those who left the conference on Monday were Mohibbullah Nadvi of the Samajwadi Party (SP), Congressman Muhammad Jawed, and Asaduddin Owaisi, head of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM). However, sources claim that they left the meeting for a while before returning.
Following the submission of a report to the committee chair by the administrator of the Delhi Waqf Board, a dispute broke out during the meeting. Members of the opposition left, saying the Delhi government had not given their approval.
Additionally, a letter was sent to committee chair Jagdambika Pal on behalf of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, claiming that the report should be regarded as “null and void” because the officer presented it to the committee without the Delhi government’s consent.
After Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Kalyan Banerjee was suspended from the committee for a day on Tuesday for smashing a glass bottle after a heated argument with BJP member and former Calcutta High Court Judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay, the panel met for the first time on Monday.
Later, the panel’s chair, BJP MP Pal, claimed that Banerjee attempted to “hit the Chair” with the bottle. After the incident, BJP members demanded criminal proceedings against the TMC MP and his suspension from Parliamentary proceedings. The Indian Express has learnt that Banerjee was not present during Monday’s meeting.
Oral testimony from the Delhi Waqf Board, Haryana Waqf Board, Punjab Waqf Board, and Uttarakhand Waqf Board was presented during the panel meeting on Monday. The panel was supposed to get oral testimony from the Waqf Tenant Welfare Association, Delhi, and “Call for Justice,” a group of former high court and Supreme Court attorneys, in the second half of the day.
Over the past two weeks, opposition MPs have repeatedly walked out of Waqf panel meetings. After a former Karnataka State Minorities Commission office-bearer and BJP leader who was deposing before the panel commented on Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, allegedly regarding the distribution of Waqf land, a number of opposition MPs left the meeting on October 14.
