NEW DELHI: Opposition members walked out of the joint parliamentary committee (JPC) meeting examining the Waqf (Amendment) Bill on Wednesday, accusing the proceedings of becoming a “mockery.”
Their protest stemmed from the chairman, Jagdambika Pal, announcing that the draft report of the committee on the Bill would be tabled in the Lok Sabha on November 29— a move opposed by several opposition parties.
Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi, DMK’s A Raja, AAP’s Sanjay Singh, and TMC’s Kalyan Banerjee, led the walkout, expressing concerns about the committee’s rushed timeline and lack of due process. They demanded an extension for more comprehensive discussions.
Gogoi said that Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla had previously indicated that the committee might be granted an extension. However, he alleged that the chairman appeared to be under pressure from a senior government minister to push through the proceedings by the November 29 deadline. “We have raised two important questions— the assurance from the Speaker that has not been fulfilled by the chairman, and the fact that the process is far from complete,” Gogoi said.
TMC leader Kalyan Banerjee also voiced his concerns, claiming that the chairman had failed to engage with opposition members or invite key witnesses. “The entire proceeding is a mockery,” Banerjee said.
YSR Congress MP Vijay Sai Reddy said that several state Waqf boards and stakeholders had not yet been heard, making it impossible for the committee to complete its work by the stipulated deadline.
“Before the agenda was taken up, non-BJP members requested an extension, but the chairman dismissed our concerns,” Reddy said.
AAP MP Sanjay Singh added that submitting a draft report before all stakeholders were heard would be a disservice to the process. “The Speaker had assured us of more time, but the committee is ignoring that assurance,” Singh said, listing several state governments, including Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh, whose views had not been considered.
The opposition members, after walking out of the meeting, reiterated their demand for an extension, insisting that the JPC must allow for more time to ensure a thorough and balanced review of the proposed amendments.
The meeting, which was also attended by senior officials from the ministry of minority affairs, was to discuss the amendments to the Waqf Bill and adopt or reject them based on the committee’s findings.
