Constitution punched!! Lok Sabha passes contentious Waqf Bill

New Delhi: The Waqf Bill, which ignored the concerns and worries of the Muslim community in the country, violated parliamentary rules and conventions and retained all the controversial provisions, was passed in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, reports Madhyamam.

When 232 MPs opposed it, 288 supported it. When the ruling NDA had 293 members, it received five fewer votes, which went in support of the Opposition, which had 223 members. The voting procedure began at 12:06 am on Thursday after the discussion on the bill and the reply of Minister Kiren Rijiju. It was at 1:45 pm when the voting ended. The absence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi on the day of discussion and voting in the Lok Sabha on the crucial issue was noticeable. The amendments proposed by NK Premachandran, Gaurav Gogoi, K Sudhakaran, Imran Masood, Asaduddin Owaisi, Saugata Roy, ET Muhammad Basheer, K Radhakrishnan, Rajeev Ranjan, Muhammad Javed and others were rejected by vote.

Despite the united Opposition of the INDIA bloc, the government secured the support of the NDA allies. The Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh, the Janata Dal (United) and the LJP in Bihar supported the Waqf Bill.

NK Premachandran raised a point of order, citing the rules and procedures of the House, stating that it was illegal to impose the draft Waqf Bill submitted with the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) report as a new bill, but Speaker Om Birla rejected it through a ruling. This paved the way for the presentation of the bill. Muslim organizations protested across the country on Wednesday, alleging that the constitutional right to religious freedom and management of Waqf properties had been encroached upon. The Opposition came out strongly in and outside the House, stating that the provisions in the bill were against secular principles and freedom of religious practice. However, the central government, with its strength in the House, was moving forward with the bill containing unconstitutional provisions.

Amit Shah asked Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju to go ahead with the bill presentation, saying that the government has the authority to bring any bill approved by the Union Cabinet to Parliament. In the more than eight-hour debate, the Opposition questioned the claims made by the government in support of the bill. The allegations and claims made by the ruling party led by Amit Shah and Rijiju to hold the Waqf and Waqf Board accountable on issues such as the Munambam land issue, women's representation, encroachment of temple lands, and government encroachment on Waqf were exposed by the Opposition led by Gaurav Gogoi, KC Venugopal, Akhilesh Yadav, Kalyan Banerjee and A Raja, and the Lok Sabha witnessed the withdrawal of many statements and their removal from the House records. Asaduddin Owaisi tore up the bill in the House.