The Waqf Amendment Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday following 12 hours of discussion, with 520 MPs participating in the voting process. Of those, 288 MPs voted in favor while 232 opposed the bill.
Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju has named the bill Umeed (Unified Waqf Management Empowerment, Efficiency, and Development). It is now set to be presented in the Rajya Sabha.
During the debate, AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi slammed the bill, stating, "The purpose of this bill is to humiliate Muslims. I tear the Waqf Bill like Gandhi."
Home Minister Amit Shah addressed concerns during the discussion, asserting that non-Islamic entities would not be included in Waqf. He claimed that minorities are being intimidated for electoral gain.
Union Minister for Minority Affairs Rijiju emphasized the importance of the amendment, stating, "If we had not presented this amendment bill today, the building in which we are sitting (Parliament) could have been claimed as Waqf property. If Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government had not come to power, many other properties would have also been de-notified."
Rijiju said that the Waqf Act was first established in 1954 after independence, which included provisions for the State Waqf Board. He said that the Act underwent various amendments, leading to its current form in 1995, and questioned the opposition's claims of unconstitutionality regarding the new amendments. He accused them of misleading the public by focusing on unrelated issues.
Furthermore, Rijiju recalled that in 2013, just before the elections, 123 prime properties were transferred to the Delhi Waqf Board. He said the timing was politically motivated. He remarked, "You (Congress) thought you would get votes, but you lost the election."
Prakash Kumar Pandey
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