Opposition stages walkout from Waqf board panel meeting chaired by Jagdambika Pal
- In Reports
- 10:43 PM, Oct 28, 2024
- Myind Staff
During a meeting of the Parliament’s joint committee on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, opposition members staged a walkout, expressing concerns that individuals without a direct connection to the bill were being called to provide oral evidence. Among those who left the meeting were All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi, Congress member Mohammad Jawed, and Samajwadi Party (SP) member Mohibbullah Nadvi. However, they returned shortly after their departure.
Tensions escalated when the administrator of the Delhi Waqf Board submitted a report to the committee’s chair, which led to the opposition's walkout. They alleged that the report's submission lacked the necessary authorisation from the Delhi government.
Former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal submitted a letter to committee chair Jagdambika Pal, asserting that the report presented without approval from the Delhi government should be deemed ‘null and void.’ This meeting marked the first gathering since the one-day suspension of Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Kalyan Banerjee from the committee. Banerjee's suspension followed an altercation last Tuesday in which he reportedly broke a glass bottle during a dispute with BJP member and former Calcutta High Court Judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay.
In the aftermath of the incident, BJP MP Jagdambika Pal alleged that Banerjee attempted to throw the bottle at him, prompting BJP members to demand Banerjee’s suspension and the consideration of potential criminal charges.
During Monday’s session, the committee heard oral evidence from the Waqf Boards of Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, and Uttarakhand. In the afternoon, former high court and Supreme Court lawyers representing ‘Call for Justice’ and the Waqf Tenant Welfare Association, Delhi, were scheduled to provide their input.
Opposition MPs have staged multiple walkouts in recent weeks during the Waqf panel meetings. Notably, on October 14, they walked out in response to a controversial remark made by a BJP leader and former official from the Karnataka State Minorities Commission regarding Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, who was allegedly related to the allotment of Waqf land.
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