New Delhi [India], October 20 (ANI): National President of Azad Samaj Party Chandra Shekhar Aazad criticised the recent amendments to the Waqf Amendment Act alleging instances of disrespect towards religious sentiments and deities. Citing examples from Himachal Pradesh and Bahraich, Azad lashed out at the government’s “one-sided” actions.
Azad Samaj Party’s (ASP) Delhi team held a protest on Sunday against the Waqf Board Bill.
“Today’s protest was called by the Delhi team. The amendments that are being made in the Waqf Amendment Act and the way comments are being made against religious sentiments, the deities of religions, the work of destabilizing the country, spoiling the atmosphere, the way action is being taken on one side whether it is Himachal or Bahraich, people are being targeted. People’s houses are being burnt, what will happen to their compensation? I also want to go there, the party is preparing for that too,” the ASP chief told ANI.
“Today, the Delhi team called a protest regarding all these things. And when we go to fight our battle the opponents try to weaken us…We are not going to be afraid of such conspiracies and plots,” he added.
Last week, a Joint Parliamentary Committee meeting on the Waqf Bill at Parliament Annexe, witnessed a heated exchange between ruling party MPs and opposition MPs, leading to an intense debate and the opposition MPs staging a walkout of the meeting.
However, later the opposition MPs alleged use of abusive language from a BJP MP and biased behaviour returned to participate in the meeting again. The opposition MPs also alleged that the Chairman of the committee Jagdambika Pal was biased on many issues and not giving instructions to BJP/NDA MPs.
The opposition MPs who staged the walk out included Asaduddin Owaisi, Nasir Hussain, Kalyan Banerjee, Arvind Sawant, Sanjay Singh, Gaurav Gogoi, Imran Masood, A Raja, Mohibbullah Nadvi and Mohammad Jawaid.
The Waqf Act, of 1995, was created to regulate waqf properties, but it has long faced allegations of mismanagement, corruption and encroachments.
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, seeks to bring sweeping reforms, introducing digitisation, stricter audits, transparency, and legal mechanisms to reclaim illegally occupied properties.
The committee has to submit its report to the Lok Sabha by the last day of the first week of the next parliament session. (ANI)
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