A joint committee of Parliament has been established to review the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, comprising 31 members drawn from both houses. The committee, which includes 21 members from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha, is tasked with submitting its report by the next session.
The formation of the committee followed the adoption of a motion on Friday, led by Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, who also oversees parliamentary affairs. The committee’s composition reflects a balance between the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the opposition, with members representing various political parties.
In the Lok Sabha, the panel includes 12 members from the NDA, with eight from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and nine members from opposition parties. The BJP members are Jagdambika Pal, Nishikant Dubey, Tejasvi Surya, Aparajita Sarangi, Sanjay Jaiswal, Dilip Saikia, Abhiit Gangopadhyay, and DK Aruna. The opposition members are Gaurav Gogoi, Imran Masood, and Mohammadd Jawed from Congress; Mohibullah from the Samajwadi Party; Kalyan Banerjee from the Trinamool Congress; A Raja from the DMK; Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu from the Telugu Desam Party; Dileshwar Kamait from JDU; Arvind Sawant from Shiv Sena-UBT; Suresh Mhatre from NCP-Sharad Pawar; Naresh Mhaske from Shiv Sena; Arun Bharti from the Lok Janshakti Party-Ram Vilas; and Asaduddin Owaisi from AIMIM.
The Rajya Sabha members include Brij Lal, Medha Vishram Kulkarni, Gulam Ali, and Radha Mohan Das Agrawal from the BJP; Syed Naseer Hussain from Congress; Mohammed Nadimul Haque from the Trinamool Congress; V Vijayasai Reddy from YSRCP; M Mohamed Abdulla from the DMK; Sanjay Singh from AAP; and nominated member Dharmasthala Veerendra Heggade.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla is expected to appoint the committee’s chairperson soon, with speculation that Jagdambika Pal may assume the role, though the final decision will be made by Speaker Birla.
The Waqf Bill, introduced in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, has sparked a contentious debate. The government asserts that the proposed amendments are intended to improve the functioning of Waqf properties and do not target mosques or undermine Muslim communities. In contrast, opposition members argue that the bill is discriminatory and constitutes an attack on the Constitution.
The committee’s mandate is to review the bill thoroughly and report back to the Lok Sabha by the end of the first week of the next session. Meanwhile, a delegation of Muslim clerics has met with Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju to express support for the proposed amendments to the Waqf Act of 1995, despite the ongoing opposition criticism.
