New Delhi, February 13: Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Sushmita Dev raised serious concerns on Thursday regarding the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) report on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, alleging that portions of dissent notes were censored using black ink or white paper. Dev expressed her disappointment, questioning the state of democracy in India, and emphasized that everyone’s opinion should be visible in a democratic setup.
“If you see, they have censored using black ink or white paper the dissent note on top of the committee report, which has been tabled today. If we consider this country a democracy, then everyone’s opinion must be visible. How can you hide our opinions? We have protested against this in Rajya Sabha today,” Dev said.
Uproar in Rajya Sabha Over JPC Report
The JPC report on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill was presented in the Rajya Sabha amid significant disruption, with opposition members protesting and raising slogans against what they described as censorship. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Medha Vishram Kulkarni presented the report, alongside a copy of the evidence recorded by the committee during its deliberations. However, the presentation of the report was followed by uproar, leading to the adjournment of the session until 11:20 am. When the session resumed, opposition MPs continued to disrupt the proceedings.
Opposition Protest and Allegations of Bias
Earlier, Jagadambika Pal, BJP MP and Chairman of the JPC, emphasized that the committee had undertaken a thorough nationwide consultation over six months before finalizing the report. The report included 25 amendments across 14 clauses. Pal stressed that the committee traveled across the country to collect inputs and hold discussions before preparing the report.
However, opposition members, particularly TMC MPs Kalyan Banerjee and Md Nadimul Haque, who were part of the JPC, voiced their objections. They accused the committee of expunging critical portions of their dissent notes. Banerjee and Haque alleged that the committee’s conclusions were biased and predetermined, claiming that the committee had ignored various stakeholder representations, witness depositions, and submissions from opposition members.
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 seeks to address long-standing issues with the Waqf Act of 1995, which regulates Waqf properties but has been criticized for mismanagement, corruption, and encroachments. The proposed amendments aim to introduce reforms such as digitization, enhanced audits, improved transparency, and legal mechanisms to reclaim illegally occupied properties. Despite these reforms, opposition members have expressed concerns over the potential political motivations behind the amendments.
The ongoing debate surrounding the JPC report has highlighted deep divisions within the Parliament over the bill, with both sides accusing each other of misrepresenting facts and failing to address key concerns.