Asaduddin Owaisi, the leader of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), has cautioned the Narendra Modi administration against submitting the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 in its current shape. Owaisi issued a warning about “social instability in the country” during his address to the Lok Sabha.
“I am cautioning and warning this government – if you bring and make a Waqf law in the present form, which will be a violation of Article 25, 26 and 14, it will lead to social instability in this country. It has been rejected by the entire Muslim community. No Waqf property will be left, nothing will be left,” news agency quoted Owaisi as saying. “You want to make India ‘Viksit Bharat’, we want ‘Viksit Bharat’. You want to take this country back to the ’80s and early ’90s, it will be your responsibility,” he added.
“As a proud Indian Muslim, I will not lose an inch of my Masjid…I will not lose an inch of my Dargah. I will not allow that. We will no more come and give a diplomatic talk over here. This is the House where I have to stand and speak honestly, that my community – we are proud Indians. It is my property, not given by anyone. You cannot snatch it away from me. Waqf is a form of worship for me,” Owaisi further said.
Opposition MPs Md. Nadimul Haque and Kalyan Banerjee objected on Monday to the purported exclusion of important details from their dissenting remarks that they had sent to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill. The MPs said in a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla that their objections had been unjustly dismissed without warning or justification.
“To our dismay and utter surprise, we found that the following objectives and dissent notes have been deleted by the Chairman without informing us and without our consent,” news agency quoted the the MPs’ letter.
The committee’s actions and recommendations were questioned in the dissent notes, which were filed following the approval of the draft report of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill with 14 members in favor and 11 against.
Banerjee and Haque alleged that the committee’s conclusions were biased and predetermined. “The observations and/or recommendations are a glaring instance of preconceived motions and views of the Chairperson and the members of the ruling party,” the letter stated.
