Opposition MPs boycott Joint Parliamentary Committee meeting formed to examine Waqf Board Amendment Bill 2024

New Delhi: Opposition MPs on Monday staged a walk out of the meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee formed to examine the Waqf Board Amendment Bill 2024.

The Opposition members alleged that the forum was used by former chairman of the Karnataka State Minorities Commission and Karnataka Minorities Development Corporation Anwar Manippady to defame the Congress-ruled Karnataka government as well as level charges against Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge in a case of land grabbing.

Manipaddy also served as a member of the BJP minority unit, the members pointed out.

The Opposition members will be writing a letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker, Om Birla, seeking an intervention because they feel the forum was used to level charges against the Opposition, and since the Chairman of the Committee Jagdambika Pal is a BJP MP, there is lesser probability of impartiality.

After they stepped out of the meeting, Shiv Sena MP Arvind Sawant told reporters that the Opposition MPs were walking out since the Committee was not functioning ethically.

“We are boycotting the meeting because the Committee is not functioning with the principles and norms of a Committee. Ethically and principally, they are wrong and not functioning properly,” Sawant told reporters, refusing to talk further.

Trouble began when Manipaddy, in his representation, made allegations of corruption against the Karnataka government as well as Kharge, and further alleged that the Congress chief as well as UPA-era ministers Rahman Khan and C K Jaffer Sharief are among those who grabbed land.

He made allegations against more than a dozen individuals, sources said.

The Opposition MPs said that this was diverting from the agenda of the meeting and prior permission was not sought.

On the other hand, the NDA MPs said that most of these allegations were in the public domain. After a clash between the opposing set of members, the Opposition MPs walked out saying they will boycott the meeting.

On Monday, apart from Manipaddy, representatives of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind and several Hindu organisation chiefs were also called to make an appearance.

Mahant Sudhirdas Maharaj, the head priest of Nashik’s Kalaram Temple, Supreme Court advocates Vishnu Shankar Jain and Ashwini Upadhyay, and representatives of Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, Goa Shri Chetan Rajhansa, and Goa Sanatan Sanstha were among those who made representations.

Several Opposition MPs were also uncomfortable with some of the Hindu organisations which have been perceived as extremist and questioned why did Hindu organisations need to be present at a meeting for a legislation that was aimed at the Muslim community.

The next meeting of the Committee is to be held Tuesday.