Rajya Sabha Accepts Waqf Bill Report, Opposition Claims Dissent Notes Removed

New Delhi: Amid protests by the opposition parties, the report of the joint committee on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, was tabled and subsequently accepted by the Rajya Sabha on Thursday. Chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar had to briefly adjourn proceedings due to the oppositions’ protest. The report on the bill was tabled by Rajya Sabha MP Medha Kulkarni. But the opposition MPs claimed that portions of dissent notes were removed. The opposition later staged a walkout during the discussion on the report.

Opposition claims report to be fake

Congress MP Malikarjun Kharge said the opposition would not accept ‘fake reports’, claiming that the report ‘bulldozed’ the oppositions’ views. He demanded that the report be sent back to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) and presented again.

“In the JPC report, many members have their dissent report. It is not right to remove those notes and bulldoze our views. This is anti-democracy… We will never accept such fake reports. If the report does not have dissenting views, it should be sent back and presented again,” Kharge. Several INDIA bloc MPs also backed Kharge.

Union Minister Kiren Rijiju said the dissent notes were attached in the appendix of the report and accused the opposition of misleading the House.

What is the Waqf Bill?

It proposes a complete overhaul of the governance of Waqf boards, which oversee properties donated for religious and charitable purposes by the Muslim community.

Some provisions in the bill are inclusion of at least two non-Muslim members on state Waqf boards and arbitration by a government official to decide whether a property is Waqf property or not.