New Delhi, August 10, 2024: A joint parliamentary committee has been established to review the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, consisting of 31 members—21 from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha. The committee is expected to submit its findings by the next session of Parliament, stated Vartha Bharati.
The motion to form the committee was moved by Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, who also holds the parliamentary affairs portfolio. Both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha adopted the motion on Friday.
In the Lok Sabha, the committee includes 12 members from the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), with eight from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and nine from the opposition. The Rajya Sabha members comprise four from the BJP, four from the opposition, one from the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP), which has opposed the bill, and one nominated member.
The Lok Sabha representatives include Jagdambika Pal, Nishikant Dubey, Tejasvi Surya, Aparajita Sarangi, Sanjay Jaiswal, Dilip Saikia, Abhiit Gangopadhyay, and DK Aruna from the BJP, among others. Opposition members include Gaurav Gogoi, Imran Masood, and Mohammad Jawed from the Congress, as well as representatives from the Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Telugu Desam Party, Janata Dal (United), Shiv Sena (UBT), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP-Sharad Pawar), and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM).
Rajya Sabha members on the committee include Brij Lal, Medha Vishram Kulkarni, Gulam Ali, and Radha Mohan Das Agrawal from the BJP; Syed Naseer Hussain from Congress; Mohammed Nadimul Haque from the Trinamool Congress; V Vijayasai Reddy from the YSRCP; M Mohamed Abdulla from the DMK; Sanjay Singh from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP); and nominated member Dharmasthala Veerendra Heggade.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla is expected to appoint the committee’s chairperson shortly, with BJP’s Jagdambika Pal being considered a potential candidate.
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, tabled in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, was referred to this joint committee after a heated debate. The government has emphasized that the bill does not intend to interfere with the functioning of mosques, while the opposition has criticized it as targeting the Muslim community and undermining the Constitution.
Minister Rijiju stated that the committee would submit its report by the first week of the next parliamentary session. Additionally, a delegation of Muslim scholars met with Minister Rijiju to express their support for the proposed amendments to the Waqf Act, 1995, amid opposition from various political parties.
