Waqf Amendment Bill To Be Presented In Parliament After Eid

Waqf Amendment Bill will be introduced in the Parliament next week after Eid.

Waqf Amendment Bill will be introduced in the Parliament next week after Eid.

Source : PTI

The controversial Waqf Amendment Bill, which calls for significant reforms to the administration of waqf properties in India, will be introduced in Parliament next week after Eid.

The Bill was tabled in the Lok Sabha on August 8, 2024, and has since witnessed protests by the opposition leaders, who have claimed that the bill has been brought in with a 'communal intention" and is an "assault" on the Constitution. It was earlier anticipated to be brought for passage in Parliament during the ongoing Budget session.

AIMPLB Calls For Nationwide Protests

The development comes as the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) on March 23 announced a nationwide agitation against the Bill,  with large sit-ins planned in front of the state assemblies in Patna and Vijayawada on March 26 and 29, respectively. 

BJP's Jagadambika Pal, who is also the chairperson of the Joint Parliamentary Committee, had hit out at AIMPLB for trying to "mislead minorities and Muslims" in the country.

"What the spokesperson of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board has said is going to create confusion among the minorities of the country," Pal said.

"The way AIMPLB is doing politics in the name of Waqf, they are trying to mislead the minorities and Muslims of the country...as per the report of JPC, govt is going to bring in the amended law. Right now, the law hasn't come, but even before, based on planned politics, they are going to Patna..." news agency ANI quoted the BJP leader as saying.

The Waqf Bill was sent for review and discussion to a 31-member Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) consisting of 21 Lok Sabha and 10 Rajya Sabha members. The committee was given the charge to examine the bill and reporting its findings by the last week of the Winter Session, 2024.

The joint committee has 655-page report submitted on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on January 30. It suggested several amendments to the proposed legislation even as the opposition members disagreed with the report and submitted dissent notes.