Chaos erupts at Waqf panel meet again as 'non-muslim' official supports bill
- In Reports
- 06:23 PM, Oct 29, 2024
- Myind Staff
Chaos broke out once again during the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) meeting about the Waqf (Amendment) bill after the Delhi Waqf Board supported the changes to the law. Sources say that IAS Ashwini Kumar, the administrator of the Delhi Waqf Board, endorsed the bill, but Opposition MPs claimed his support was "illegal."
The Opposition claimed that the administrator of the Delhi Waqf Board is not a Muslim, stating that the law prohibits non-Muslims from being on the board. A BJP MP highlighted that when Arvind Kejriwal was Chief Minister, he had appointed a Hindu administrator to the Delhi Waqf Board. According to sources, the opposition claimed that the Delhi Waqf Board administrator arrived with its presentation without the Delhi government's consent. "He (administrator) should be booked for fraud," claimed some opposition MPs.
Opposition MPs stated that the Delhi government's representative on the Waqf board should be allowed to present to the parliamentary panel. The panel's chairperson agreed to this request. On Monday, the opposition left the meeting in protest against the presentation given by the Delhi Waqf Board. AAP MP Sanjay Singh pointed out that the presentation had not been approved by the Delhi government. The opposition also claimed that the Waqf Board's original report was changed without the approval of Delhi Chief Minister Atishi.
A letter stating that the presentation should be regarded as "null and void" was also issued by Atishi to the committee. TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee attended the meeting after being suspended for a day due to his disruptive behaviour the previous week. He injured his hand when he smashed a glass water bottle during a heated argument with BJP MP Abhijit Gangopadhyay. On Tuesday, Banerjee explained that he became angry because Gangopadhyay insulted him and his parents.
Banerjee described the events as follows: "On that day, there was a hot exchange of words between Congress's Nasir Hussain and Abhijit Gangopadhyay. I said why was he (Abhijit Gangopadhyay) shouting? Then he started abusing me, my mother, my father and my wife... After the chairperson came, he was harsh towards me but soft towards him. This frustrated me. Then, I smashed the (glass) bottle on the table."
"I never had the intention of throwing the bottle at the chairperson. The chairperson has no power to suspend the members, only the Speaker does. Abhijit Gangopadhyay is a black spot on the judiciary and a rotten man," he further remarked.
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