Stormy scenes likely as government gears up to table JPC report on Waqf bill

NEW DELHI: With the Budget presented, Parliament is set to witness a fiery start when it reconvenes on Monday with the Joint Parliamentary Committee report on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill to be tabled in the Lok Sabha and the opposition making its intent known to raise issues such as the recent stampede at Maha Kumbh.
After the report is adopted by the House, the contentious Waqf Bill will be introduced and taken up for discussion. JPC chairman Jagdambika Pal and panel member Sanjay Jaiswal are likely to present the report and the record of evidence before the panel in the Lok Sabha.
Monday's proceedings are likely to be stormy given that the entire deliberation process of the committee on the Waqf Bill was marked by clashes between BJP and opposition members.
In fact, the JPC report was adopted after opposition members from Congress, TMC, DMK, Sena (UBT) and AIMIM submitted dissent notes, describing the bill as an attack on the "constitutional rights of Muslim community".
AIMIM's Asaduddin Owaisi claimed parts of his dissent note were deleted. "I had submitted a detailed dissent note to JPC against Waqf Bill. It is shocking that parts of my note were redacted without my knowledge. The deleted sections were not controversial, they only stated facts," he said on X.