NEW DELHI: The report of the joint panel on the Wakf Amendment Bill was tabled in Parliament on Thursday amid uproar by the opposition, which walked out of both Houses in protest against their dissent notes not being incorporated. The Opposition termed the report “biased and one-sided”.
In the face of the protests, Home Minister Amit Shah assured the Lower House that the government had no objection if the dissent notes were included in the report without redaction. The minister left it to Speaker Om Birla’s discretion to take a call.
The Lower House was later adjourned till March 10, marking the end of the first session of the Budget session.
As panel chairman and BJP MP Jagdambika Pal rose to table the report in the Lok Sabha, opposition members raised slogans which were countered by the thumping of benches by the treasury side. The opposition members then staged a walkout.
Amid noisy protests by the opposition, Shah said: “Some opposition members have objected to their dissent notes not being annexed fully. I wish to request you on behalf of my party that whatever their objections, you can attach the same to the report as per parliamentary practice as you feel appropriate.”
“My party has no objection to it,” he added. Earlier, the Lok Sabha was adjourned till 2 pm soon after it was convened for the day amid protests by opposition members over alleged cronyism on part of the government in allocating the Khavda renewable
energy project in Gujarat to a particular company.
In the Rajya Sabha, opposition MPs entered the well of the House soon after the joint panel report on the Waqf Amendment Bill was tabled, claiming that it sought to open the floodgates for targeting land belonging to other religious groups.
They also questioned redacting certain portions of the dissent notes submitted by opposition members of the panel.
The Upper House also witnessed an adjournment of around 20 minutes owing to protests by opposition MPs.
When the House reconvened, opposition MPs said their dissent notes were redacted from the report while the government denied the charge. The Opposition members then staged a walkout.
Congress’ Syed Nasir Hussain, a member of the panel, told reporters on the Parliament premises that the report was “completely biased and one-sided”.
“Procedure was not followed at the meeting. Non-stakeholders were invited to present their views,” he further said.
Hussain also claimed that 98 per cent of the stakeholders had opposed the Bill while the non-stakeholders who had been called, supported it.
“Minutes of the meetings were not provided, response of the witnesses was not provided. Presentations were not given to us on time. After the meetings with stakeholders, members were supposed to sit and discuss but that did not happen,” Hussain alleged further.