Cabinet Clears 14 Waqf Bill Changes By House Panel Amid Row Over 'Bias'

The Union Cabinet has approved changes to the controversial Waqf (Amendment) Bill, sources told NDTV Thursday morning. The Cabinet accepted 14 of the 23 changes proposed by a joint parliamentary committee - to which the bill had been referred in August - in a meeting last week.

The amended bill will now likely be tabled when the House reconvenes March 10.

The JPC had presented its report on February 13, in which too there was controversy after opposition MPs on the panel said sections of their dissent notes had vanished from the submitted document.

The centre denied the accusation but said the JPC boss, the ruling BJP's Jagadambika Pal, had the discretion to remove sections casting 'aspersions' on the committee. However, following a meeting between Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, and protesting opposition MPs, it was decided the dissent notes would be included in their original (and entire) form.

READ | Opposition MPs In Waqf House Panel Say Their Suggestions Ignored

Submission of the JPC's report was after a prolonged fight between the opposition and the BJP over the committee's functioning, with Mr Pal accused of bias and rushing the bill without proper consultation.

Opposition MPs had written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and accused Mr Pal of trying to "steamroll" the Waqf Bill through the House with one eye on the February 5 Delhi election, which the BJP won.

READ | "Ensure Fair Proceedings": Suspended Waqf Panel MPs To Speaker

The BJP, though, had refuted those claims; panel member and Lok Sabha MP Aparajita Sarangi said Mr Pal "tried to hear everybody out and gave sufficient time for everybody to move amendments..."

The JPC did hold nearly three dozen hearings over the past six months but many of those ended in chaos, and at least one in physical violence after Trinamool MP Kalyan Banerjee smashed a glass bottle on the table, after claiming provocation from the BJP's Abhijit Gangopadhyay.

Eventually 66 changes were proposed, of which all 44 from the opposition were rejected, triggering another spat. The 23 from BJP and allied parties were accepted and, after a vote, 14 were cleared.

The JPC had 16 MPs from the BJP and allied parties, and only 10 from the opposition.

JPC Changes To Waqf Bill

These 14 alternations include distinguishing between the mandatory two non-Muslim members - as specified in the original draft of the bill - and nominated ex-officio members (Muslim or non-Muslim).

This means waqf councils, whether at state or pan-India levels, will have at least two, and possibly more (if the nominated ex-officio members are also not Muslim) members not from the Islamic faith.

READ | Rules On 2 Non-Muslims Among 14 Changes To Waqf Bill

Another key change is directing an officer nominated by the concerned state to determine if a property is 'waqf'. In the original draft this decision was left to the District Collector.

A third is establishing that the law will not apply retrospectively, so long as the property in question is already registered. To this point, Congress leader and JPC member Imran Masood raised a red flag, noting an estimated 90 per cent of waqf properties are not, in fact, registered.

What Waqf Bill Had Said

There were 44 changes in the draft bill; these were to rules governing central and state Waqf boards, which decide how Muslim charitable properties are managed in this country.

These proposals - which include nominating non-Muslim and (at least two) women members to every Waqf Board, as well as a Union Minister, three MPs, and four people of 'national repute' to the central Waqf Council - had triggered furious protests from the opposition.

NDTV Explains | Women, Non-Muslims, Council Can't Claim Land: Waqf Changes

Another proposed change was to limit donations from Muslims who must have been practicing for at least five years - a provision that triggered a row over the term 'practicing Muslim'.

A third was to direct an officer nominated by the concerned state to determine if a property is 'waqf'. In the original draft this decision was left to the District Collector.

Further, under the new rules the Waqf Council could not claim land.

Government vs Opposition On Waqf Bill

Sources told NDTV last year the idea is to empower Muslim women and children who had "suffered" under the old law. However, critics, including opposition leaders like the Congress' KC Venugopal, have said it constitutes a "direct attack on freedom of religion".

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, one of the bill's fiercest critics, and the DMK's Kanimozhi have also spoken out, arguing it violates multiple sections of the Constitution, including Article 15 (the right to practice a religion of one's choice) and Article 30 (the right to minority communities to establish and administer their educational institutions).

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