BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: The BJP on Thursday hit out at the opposition parties and called them "enemies of poor Muslims" after they objected to the Waqf (Amendment) Bill introduced in Lok Sabha.
Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju introduced The Waqf (Amendment) Bill in the House and proposed sending it to a joint parliamentary committee after the opposition parties objected to its provision. He also introduced The Mussalman Wakf (Repeal) Bill, 2024.
Several I.N.D.I.A. bloc MPs called the proposed legislation an attack on the Constitution and aimed at targeting minority community.
BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla termed the opposition parties’ protest against the Bill as "vote bank politics".
In a post on X, he said, "Those who are opposing Waqf amendments today are those who are enemies of poor Muslims and on side of elite land grabbers and land jihadis."
He said amendments to the Waqf Act, if passed, will ensure balance with constitutional principles, transparency, accountability, financial audit, monitoring and verification of the Waqf properties.
The amendments will also ensure proper use of Waqf properties, women's participation in the decision making and also participation of members of other sects of Muslims, he added.
"Lakhs of acres of land (under Waqf Board) but less than Rs 200 crore as income. Benefits only going to rich elite Muslims," Poonawalla said, adding, "Right to land grabbing is not a fundamental right. Do Parsis, Hindus, Jains, Christians have such rights?" He claimed that the proposed amendments to the Act have been backed by Muslims, which includes "Aga Khanis, Bohras, backward class Muslims and women".
"How can it be anti-Muslim when Muslims themselves want reforms," he asked.
Senior BJP leader and MP Ravishankar Prasad said the amendment bill has been brought for the progress of the Muslim society, including women, backwards and those who are poor in the community.
"They opposed Shahbano, triple talaq and now they are opposing it also," the former Union minister told PTI in Parliament complex, when asked for comment.
Union minister SP Singh Baghel said the government has brought the Bill in the interest of Muslim society, including women of the community.
"Those who have occupied the Waqf properties for hundreds of years are feeling the pain," he told PTI.
Another Union minister Sukanta Majumdar slammed the opposition, accusing it of indulging in vote bank politics over the Bill, and asserted that the proposed amendments will turn out to be a "milestone" towards progress of the Muslim society.