New Delhi [India], January 25 : The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has strongly condemned the Chairman of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) over his move regarding the Waqf Bill, accusing him of using a weak justification to suspend opposition members who opposed the government’s stance on the bill.
In a statement, the CPI(M) argued that the Chairman’s decision to suspend 10 opposition MPs was a blatant attempt to undermine the parliamentary process, which has long been governed by established norms and precedents. The party called on all democratic forces to unite against such “brazen” actions by the NDA government.
The suspension followed a chaotic meeting where opposition MPs clashed with the government over the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, accusing the ruling party of rushing the bill through ahead of the Delhi elections. The suspended MPs included Kalyan Banerjee, Md Jawaid, A Raja, Asaduddin Owaisi, Nasir Hussain, Mohibullah, M Abdullah, Arvind Sawant, Nadimul Haq, and Imran Masood.
The uproar was sparked when opposition MPs alleged that the government was trying to push the bill through without proper debate or consideration of the views of key stakeholders, including prominent religious figures from Jammu and Kashmir. JPC member and BJP MP Sanjay Jaiswal dismissed the opposition’s objections, claiming their failure to sign the attendance sheet rendered them technically absent. He also accused the opposition of trying to suppress the views of Muslim leaders from Jammu and Kashmir.
In response, BJP leader Dilip Ghosh criticized the opposition for opposing the bill, calling it a “drama” aimed at garnering votes ahead of the elections. He argued that the bill, which he described as a remedy for the country’s colonial legacy, was in the interest of the Muslim community and would be passed despite opposition efforts. Ghosh claimed that similar opposition had failed in the past on issues like the CAA, GST, and Article 370, and that the opposition’s resistance to the Waqf Bill would ultimately be unsuccessful.