Waqf Board JPC: Opposition MPs meet Speaker Birla, raise objections

New Delhi: After the members of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Sanjay Singh on Monday informed that they had raised objections over issues related to the JPC report. The report can only be prepared after listening to all the arguments from different parties, he added.
Singh, a member of the upper house, said that Speaker Om Birla calmly listened to the issues and assured that he would extend the time limit for submitting the report on Waqf. The (JPC) tour was cancelled in the middle and the tour was conducted without quorum in two places, he added.
"We met the Lok Sabha Speaker and he listened to our issues in which we had two to three major objections. The tour was cancelled in the middle. The tour was conducted without quorum in two places and the remaining places are yet to be visited, they should be completed. The discussion on the ministry's report is still pending and it should be completed. Several members of the Waqf Board are yet to come before the JPC, this should be done. A JPC report be prepared after listening to all the arguments from different parties. You cannot write and submit a JPC report overnight by forcefully holding hands. The Speaker listened to all these things very politely and assured us that we would extend the time limit for submitting our report to the JPC," AAP MP Sanjay Singh said.
Before the separate session of both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, a joint session of the Parliament was also held, with the Speaker of the House presiding over the session. The house session will conclude on December 20 and the Parliament is set to have 16 bills for introduction during its session.
Notably, the Waqf (Amendment) bill is set to be tabled after a comprehensive Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) led by MP Jagdambika Pal collected witness accounts and testimonies from various stakeholders.
Meanwhile, Naseer Ahmed, Karnataka Chief Minister's political secretary, stated that the All India Muslim Personal Law Board along with scholars and leaders from the Muslim community would oppose the amendment to the Waqf Bill, which the central government was trying to introduce in the winter session of Parliament. He said that the Muslim community wasn't left with any other option but to fight against the Waqf (Amendment) Bill.