After introducing the Waqf Amendment Bill in Lok Sabha, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju while speaking during the debate in Lok Sabha said “This Bill is prospective and not retrospective. If today you (Congress) again try to mislead, and spread falsehoods, then you will have to face the truth. Then we will bring another bill, and I will once again unveil the reality.
Moving the bill, The minister said more than 97.27 lakh petitions and memorandums were received by the JPC through physical and online formats and the JPC had gone through each of them before finalising its report.
As many as 284 delegations submitted their views on the Bill besides the Waqf boards of 25 states and Union Territories, he said.
“If a Muslim individual creates a Waqf, the first requirement is to ensure the rights of the women in the family. The entire management of government land or private land has been structured so that the Collector is authorized through the committee’s recommendations. The committee suggested that why should everything be under the Collector’s authority alone? So, it was accepted that officers above the Collector’s level will oversee government land matters and resolve disputes involving Waqf Boards or Mutawallis.
“We had proposed a two-member tribunal, but the committee suggested that 2 members were not sufficient and that there should be 3 members. This recommendation has been accepted. Now, the tribunal will have three members with a fixed tenure. This provision is being made in the government that when you create Waqf property, it should not happen that you go to a tribal area and create Waqf on tribal land. Therefore, keeping in mind the protection of the tribals of our country, you cannot create Waqf property in Schedule 5 and Schedule 6.
“I told you about Sundereshwar temple. When no other religion existed, the Surendereshwar temple was there in Tiruchenthurai village in Tamil Nadu. The temple was declared as Waqf property. In Karnataka, thousands of acres of land, in Yamunanagar, Haryana, the land of the Sikh Gurudwara, where there was never a mosque or any Muslim settlement record, was also declared as Waqf property. I consider myself very fortunate that PM Modi has given an ordinary member like me the opportunity to present such a bill. Millions of poor Muslims will bless me for this effort. Why should I take these blessings alone? You should receive them too. Support this bill, this is my sincere request to you all.”
Rijiju also claimed the consultation process of the JPC was the largest ever exercise carried out by a parliamentary panel in India’s democratic history.
