Synopsis
Ten Opposition MPs were suspended for a day for disrupting the parliamentary panel meeting on the Waqf Amendment Bill. Chairman Jagdambika Pal faced allegations of unfairly conducting the proceedings. The suspension came as a J&K delegation, led by Hurriyat chief Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, expressed concern over the proposed amendments. The panel’s final report is expected on January 29.
New Delhi: Ten Opposition MPs, who attended the parliamentary panel meeting on Waqf Amendment Bill, were suspended for a day for ‘disrupting proceedings’. Chairman Jagdambika Pal took the extreme step amid accusations that he steamrolled through the proceedings.
With political convulsions continuing at the Waqf panel meetings, the suspended MPs in a letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker alleged that Pal was conducting the business in a “unilateral and unfair” manner.
They also alleged in the letter that Pal spoke on phone with somebody and suddenly and surprisingly ordered their suspension.
Opposition MPs have sought more time to allow them to frame their opinion after studying stakeholders’ views. “The chairman should postpone the 27th meeting so that the Opposition members can get adequate time and opportunity to put forth” their “plea/claims without any departure from rules and procedure”, the Opposition MPs said in a three-page letter to the Speaker.
Pal, on the other hand, slammed the Opposition MPs, alleging that their conduct was aimed at disrupting the proceedings. He accused Trinamool MP Kalyan Banerjee of hurling abuses at him and said that he tried to bring order by adjourning the meeting twice, but it was in vain.
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey moved the motion to suspend members and it was adopted by the committee.
The suspended members are Banerjee and Nadeem-ul Haque (Trinamool), Mohammad Jawed, Imran Masood and Syed Naseer Hussain (Congress), A Raja and Mohamed Abdullah (DMK), Asaduddin Owaisi (AIMIM), Mohibullah (SP) and Arvind Sawant (Shiv Sena-UBT).
The suspension came on a day when a J&K delegation, led by Hurriyat chief Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, appeared before the panel. For the first time, Mirwaiz has stepped out of the Kashmir Valley after the abrogation of Article 370.
Expressing “serious and deep concern” over the proposed amendments, Farooq said the changes represent a significant threat to the autonomy and functioning of Waqf.
The collector has been given absolute power to change the nature of Waqf properties into ‘government properties’ by ‘simply’ passing orders and changing the entries in the revenue record, Farooq said in his submission.
The panel is likely to adopt its final report on January 29.
