Fireworks in JPC meeting on Waqf Bill again, Opposition leaders stage walkout
Among those who walked out of the meeting were AAP MP Sanjay Singh, the DMK's Mohammed Abdulla, the Congress' Naseer Hussain and Mohamed Jawed.
Several opposition leaders walked out of the meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill on Monday, to register their protest against the presentation made by the Delhi Waqf Board.
The members who staged the walkout said the administrator of the Delhi Waqf Board, who had appeared before the panel, made changes to the presentation without the knowledge of the Delhi government.
Among those who walked out of the meeting were AAP MP Sanjay Singh, the DMK's Mohammed Abdulla, the Congress' Naseer Hussain and Mohamed Jawed.
They claimed that the MCD Commissioner and Delhi Waqf Board's administrator, Ashwini Kumar, altered the initial report of the Waqf Board without chief minister Atishi's approval.
The meeting was chaired by BJP MP Jagdambika Pal.
Also read: ‘Abusive language, broken glass’: What happened at JPC meet on Waqf Bill
The committee had called the representatives of the Delhi Waqf Board, Haryana Waqf Board, Punjab Waqf Board and Uttarakhand Waqf Board and Uttarakhand Waqf Board to record their Oral evidence on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024.
The Committee also summoned Call for Justice (Group led by Chander Wadhwa, Trustee), Waqf Tenant Welfare Association, Delhi and Harbans Dunkall, President, Residents Welfare Association (All Blocks), B.K. Dutt Colony, New Delhi to record their views and suggestions.
Also read: TMC's Kalyan Banerjee suspended for a day over ‘unruly conduct’ at JPC Waqf meeting
What happened in the last JPC meeting on Waqf
In the last meeting on October 22, the panel's meeting witnessed a heated argument between BJP MP Abhijit Gangopadhyay and TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee.
Banerjee allegedly threw a glass bottle in a fit of rage and later allegedly threw the glass towards Pal. He hurt his hand in the process. The TMC MP was later barred from attending one meeting of the JPC.
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 seeks to bring sweeping reforms, introducing digitisation, stricter audits, transparency and legal mechanisms to reclaim illegally occupied properties.
With inputs from PTI, ANI
