The Joint Committee of Parliament has adopted its draft report on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill through a vote on Wednesday, January 29. Opposition Members of Parliament (MPs) have been given time till 4 pm Wednesday to submit their dissent notes on the report.
According to The Indian Express report, the voting was conducted during the last meeting of the JPC committee on Wednesday, with 14 votes in favour and 11 votes against it.
Samajwadi Party leader on the Waqf Amendment Bill committee report adopted said, “Today was the final meeting of the JPC. We wanted the report to address all communities – Hindus, Waqf, Gurdwara, Sikhs – but that didn’t happen. Instead, an unconstitutional bill was passed, based on majority votes, which undermines the spirit of the Constitution, especially concerning Muslims.”
Congress leader Naseer Hussain said many suggestions were not included by the committee, and unconstitutional amendments were brought.
"Many important suggestions were not included. Despite the opposition, it was done arbitrarily. We wanted equal treatment to all the religion. But it was seen for the first time that unconstitutional amendments were brought. Minority rights were abused. This is against the constitutional rights. We wanted parity in rules for all religious places," said Hussain while speaking to the news agency PTI.