New Delhi: Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on April 3 accused the opposition parties of trying to mislead people on the Waqf Amendment Bill and said it will benefit crores of people from the Muslim community.
Replying to the over 12-hour-long debate on the bill in Rajya Sabha, Rijiju said several suggestions made by the Joint Parliamentary Committee had been incorporated in the revised bill.
“When the Waqf Amendment Bill was first drafted and the bill that we are passing now, there are a lot of changes. The bill would have been completely different if we had not accepted anyone’s suggestions,” he said.
He said the BJP-led government was not scaring anyone and accused the opposition parties of trying to create a scare among members of the minority community.
“You are trying to create a scare and trying to take (them) away from the mainstream. Do not mislead in the future..it (the bill) will benefit crores of Muslims,” he said.
Rijiju said once a property is declared a Waqf property, its status cannot be changed and this has to be done by following the due process.
Lok Sabha, which took up discussion on the Waqf (Amendment Bill) on April 2, passed it past midnight after a marathon debate.
Rijiju said there is no interference in the Waqf property by the government.
“The Waqf Board is a statutory body and why should only Muslims be included in the statutory body? If there is a dispute between Hindus and Muslims, how will that dispute be resolved?… There can be disputes with non-Muslims in the Waqf Board as well…The statutory body should be secular and people of all religions should be represented,” he said.
He also said no non-Islamic member will get a place in the Waqf Board’s work related to religious donations.
Rijiju, who moved the bill for passing in Rajya Sabha earlier, said the government had strengthened mechanisms under the bill, including tribunals.”We have included the Right to Appeal in this bill. If you don’t get your right in the Tribunal, then you can file a petition in court under this Right to Appeal,” he said.
Rijiju said that the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, will be renamed as the UMEED (Unified Waqf Management Empowerment Efficiency and Development) Bill.
Rijiju also accused the Congress-led UPA government of denotifying 123 prime properties on the eve of Lok Sabha polls in 2014 due to “vote bank politics”.
“Just before implementation of model code of conduct ahead of 2014 general elections, on March 5, 2014, UPA govt denotified 123 prime properties and handed them over to Delhi Waqf Board. These properties were of the Housing and Urban Affairs ministry,” he said.”If you look at it, then the case was going on since 1970, and it is pending since then, you must have heard of the CGO complex, I can give the list later, they handed over prime properties,” he added.
The government introduced the revised bill after incorporating the recommendations of the Joint Parliamentary Committee, which examined the legislation introduced in August last year. The bill seeks to amend the Act of 1995 and improve the administration and management of waqf properties in India.
The Bill aims to overcome the shortcomings of the previous act and enhance the efficiency of Waqf boards, improving the registration process and increasing the role of technology in managing waqf records.
There was a din briefly when Sudhanshu Trivedi was speaking on the bill. The BJP member said that the Muslim community, which was earlier identified with talented, creative people from the Bollywood, was now sought to be identified by people who faced cases for breaching the law. He took some names.
With some members of opposition raising strong objections, Amit Shah said the BJP member had not made remarks about the Muslim community as such but taken names of some people facing cases who were associated with the I.N.D.I Alliance.
Amit Shah also took potshots at Congress member Digvijaya Singh, who made brief comments amid the din. “Inko mera hauha hai, sirf main dikhta hun…”, Amit Shah said.
Amit Shah also countered Digvijaya Singh over remarks that he was Gujarat’s Home Minister during riots in the state in 2002.
“I was not Home Minister…I became Home Minister after 18 months,” Amit Shah said.
Opposition members demanded that some remarks of Sudhanshu Trivedi should be expunged.
Several members including Leader of House JP Nadda and Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge took part in the debate. (With inputs from ANI)
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