Waqf Amendment Bill: There is continuous uproar in the JPC meeting formed to consider the Waqf Amendment Bill. Meetings are being held one after the other and there is a tussle between the ruling party and the opposition. The same scene was seen once again in the JPC meeting on Monday.

Uproar over Delhi Waqf Board's report

This was the first meeting of the committee after the suspension of Trinamool Congress member Kalyan Banerjee. Former judges and Waqf administrators from various states appeared before the committee. The parliamentary committee meeting remained deadlocked from the beginning on Monday. Aam Aadmi Party member Sanjay Singh objected to the presentation of Delhi Waqf Board administrator Ashwani Kumar, arguing that the report presented by him was not approved by the Chief Minister of Delhi. Delhi Chief Minister Atishi wrote a letter to Jagdambika Pal, chairman of the joint committee on the Waqf Amendment Bill, urging to "invalidate" the report of the Delhi Waqf Board. She says that it has been sent without the approval of the Delhi government.

meeting on Tuesday too

Opposition members persisted in their objection to a presentation by the Delhi Waqf Board, so the committee chairman decided to seek the opinion of the Lok Sabha secretary general on the matter. Kumar, an official of the Delhi Waqf Board, appeared before the committee briefly after the secretary general opined that he could put forth his views. He is expected to continue his arguments on Tuesday as well.

Opposition walkout

After this, Sanjay Singh, Congress members Nasir Hussain and Mohammad Javed, AIMIM member Asaduddin Owaisi, Samajwadi Party member Mohibullah, DMK member MM Abdullah, and Trinamool Congress's Mohammad Nadeem-ul Haq walked out of the meeting for some time. Sources said that the opposition members also removed their signatures from the attendance roster of the parliamentary committee before walking out.

What did the Uttarakhand Waqf Board say

Uttarakhand Waqf Board chairman Shadab Shams suggested that the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) would make the need for a separate Waqf law irrelevant. Shams told the committee that implementation of UCC by Uttarakhand would soon lead to it being adopted at the national level and there would be no need for any personal law. Shams was also of the opinion that Waqf lands in Uttarakhand be allotted to the kin of martyrs as the hill state has a large representation in the armed forces. The parliamentary committee also heard representatives of Waqf boards from Haryana and Punjab.