New Delhi, Jan 24 Ten Opposition MPs, suspended for the day from a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) meeting on the Waqf Amendment Bill, wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Friday seeking transparent proceedings, sans haste, in the panel.
Apart from challenging the JPC Chief Jagdambika Pal’s power to suspend them, the signatories of the letter sought adequate time to prepare their responses regarding the proposals under discussion.
“The Chairman of the JPC may kindly be instructed to conduct the proceedings in a transparent and fair manner. The Chairman should postpone the 27th meeting so that the Opposition members can get the adequate time and opportunity to put forth our plea/claims without any departure from the rules and procedure to ensure the Parliament democracy on which the Nation still has faith,” said the letter signed by the 10 MPs.
The signatories of the letter are Kalyan Banerjee, Mohammad Jawed, A. Raja, Asaduddin Owaisi, Nasir Hussain, Mohibullah, M. Abdullah, Arvind Sawant, Nadimul Haque, and Imran Masood.
Seeking adequate time to present their views, the MPs wrote, “Rushing the proceedings of the JPC without application of the mind by the Chairman is nothing but a riddle wrapped with hidden malice.”
Alleging attempts to stifle debate, the MPs said that more time was needed for discussions as the Amendments proposed in the Bill are not only connected with the huge land banks of the Waqf Boards across the country but also relevant to the judicial pronouncements of the High Courts/Supreme Court.
Earlier in the day, the JPC meeting turned chaotic as opposition MPs were suspended for the entire day following a heated argument. The commotion took place during a discussion on the Waqf Amendment Bill 2024.
The Opposition MPs alleged that they were not given sufficient time to study the draft which was brought up for discussion.
Chaired by BJP MP Jagadambika Pal, the panel meeting was in fact set to hear a delegation led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq from Kashmir.
But before the process, the meeting was disrupted by opposition MPs who raised concerns about “the speed with which the government wanted to pass the bill”, “especially considering the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections”.
As the disruption escalated, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey proposed the suspension of 10 opposition MPs for the day. The panel subsequently accepted Dubey’s proposal.
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