Both Houses of Parliament on Thursday saw uproar by the Opposition MPs over the tabling of the report of the Joint Committee of Parliament on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill. While the Opposition alleged that portions of their members’ dissent notes were deleted from the report, the BJP-led NDA government denied it.
The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president and Lok Sabha MP from Hyderabad, Asaduddin Owaisi, who was part of this Parliament committee, speaks to The Indian Express on the panel’s functioning, its report and the Opposition members’ dissent notes, among other issues. Excerpts:
What do you have to say about the Parliament Waqf committee’s functioning and its report?
The proceedings of the committee were held in a haphazard manner. The chairman (BJP MP Jagdambika Pal) used his prerogative in a wrong way for calling stakeholders. Some of their members have been involved in terror activities while a few are facing murder charges. What stake do they have on the Waqf Bill or the issue?
Secondly, many organisations that had nothing to do with the Waqf were called.
Thirdly, the tenure of the committee was supposed to be till the last day of the ongoing Budget session but was advanced. How is it possible for members to read the document within a few hours and give dissent notes? This tells you that they did not want our dissent notes which contradicted the unconstitutional Bill.
What is your take on the amendments proposed by the NDA members, which were approved by the committee?
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Our amendments lost out as we did not have the numbers while the NDA and BJP had numerical strength. The amendments moved by the BJP members make the Bill worse. The worst part is that not only non-Muslims can be ex-officio members, non-Muslims can also be appointed to Waqf Boards on a nomination basis.
There is also a need to demonstrate that you are a Muslim. What is the meaning of demonstrate? How do you demonstrate you are a Muslim or you are not one? Is that legal language?
You say “Waqf by user” only if the property is not in dispute and it does not belong to the government. What is the legal definition of dispute? Anyone can create a dispute either verbally or by giving a representation. According to this Bill, if anyone complains to the Collector that a Waqf property is not a Waqf property and if an inquiry is ordered, the property will cease to be a Waqf property till the probe is completed. There is no time limit to it. The Collector is a part of the Executive. He is a government appointee. It is a grave violation of the theory of separation of power and an example of how this Waqf by user amendment will be used against the interest of Waqf.
For instance, the mosque in front of Parliament. The government as well as the Waqf claim it is theirs. Now, after the Bill becomes a law and the government decides it is their property, you will see a sticker pasted on the masjid which will read “this is government property and you cannot pray here”. In what way are all these amendments being brought to save Waqf properties? Instead, you want to snatch them away.
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Also, once it becomes a law, the members (of the Waqf Board) will be appointed without an election, which is undemocratic. So, by appointing your members, you will take over Waqf property.
The Bill is in violation of Article 29 of the Constitution. These are fundamental rights which cannot be taken away.
When the Boards of other religions like Hindus, Christians and Sikhs do explicitly say those not practising the religion cannot be made members of their Boards and have their own tribunals to deal with disputes, something exactly opposite is being done (through the amendments to the Waqf Act,1995).
The amendments have been brought in from an ideological point of view. You just want to destroy the Waqf Board and nothing will remain.
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Several Opposition members have alleged that parts of their dissent notes were not included in the report. Which parts have been removed?
When we met the Speaker today, he directed the Secretary-General to sit with the Lok Sabha members of the panel and ensure that the redacted version should be included in the final report if the provisions in the procedure adopted for the committee are not violated.
The report says there is a threat to Scheduled Tribes (STs) and their lands and has recommended the ministry to take appropriate legislative measures…
In my dissent note, I have written that you cannot do it. Legally, a Muslim can be a tribal. For instance, you have Lakshadweep MP (Mohammad Faizal) and Ladakh MP (Mohmad Haneefa) who are tribals but are Muslims. How can you curtail their freedom of religion?
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We have been accused of criticising the working of the committee in our dissent notes and in this garb, portions of our dissent notes were redacted from the report.
How is that criticism of the committee? The parliamentary procedure says if the dissent note of a member is redacted, the chairman must inform. In this case, the chairman did not inform. This clearly shows that the chairman wanted to bulldoze what the government wanted. This is very unfortunate.
The NDA has the numbers to pass the Bill as we have seen their allies, JD(U), TDP and LJP (RV) are on the same page as the government. What is the Opposition’s roadmap?
The TDP, LJP(RV) and [JD(U) chief] Nitish Kumar must realise what they are doing is something unconstitutional.
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They are going to destroy the Waqf and in the process, their shallow talk of upholding the interests of Muslim minorities and secularism is coming across as a farce. They will be exposed badly.
God forbid, if this Bill becomes a law, then Muslims will not forgive [TDP chief] Chandrababu Naidu, [LJP(RV) president] Chirag Pasawan and Nitish for their betrayal.
Have Opposition parties had a conversation about how they plan to stop the Bill from becoming a law?
Let us see what happens and what the government does. Whatever it is doing, it is carrying forward its ideology. What is the need to chant JSR (Jai Shree Ram) slogans when the report is being tabled in Parliament? What does this tell the nation? The government claims to be doing this (amending the Waqf Act, 1995) for poor Muslims. Is this the way to do it?