Waqf Amendment Bill need of the hour: Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi

New Delhi, Aug 21 : As political controversy continues over the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, senior BJP leader and former Union Minister for Minority Affairs, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, said the Bill is the need of the hour.

The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) is preparing to meet for the first time on Thursday to discuss the Waqf (Amendment) Bill introduced by the Modi government during the recently concluded Parliament session.

The Bill is significant for the BJP and the party's strategists want it to be passed in the upcoming Winter Session of the Parliament. However, a lot also depends on the JPC report. The BJP has to not only get the opposition parties on the board, but also convince allies like Chandrababu Naidu and Chirag Paswan to support the Bill.

Speaking exclusively with IANS, Naqvi said this entire system (of the Waqf Board) will have to come out of the 'touch me not' politics. The government has brought this Bill to make the Waqf system better, he said.

Responding to questions raised by the opposition parties as well as a few allies, Naqvi said this is not the first time that the Waqf laws are being amended, as amendments were made earlier as well.

"Amendments were made during the tenure of the Congress and during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. The Bill introduced by the government should be debated, discussed and analysed in detail, and that is why it has been sent to the JPC. The JPC is a constitutional body and this Bill should be discussed with an open mind at its meetings. Whatever arguments any political party has will come up in the meetings of the JPC," Naqvi told IANS.

Opposing the 'attempts' to give a communal colour to the Bill, he said that many questions are being raised regarding it, and attempts are being made to create confusion and hence it has been sent to the JPC for a thorough discussion, taking all the views into consideration.

He said this amendment is the need of the hour and it should not be assumed that someone is being attacked or that this Bill is against someone.

"Both Hindus and Muslims are stakeholders in this matter which should be made clear to everyone." he said.

Amid strong disapproval by the opposition parties, Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju introduced the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, in the Lok Sabha on August 8. NDA allies JD-U, TDP, and the Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde supported the Bill.

TDP MP Ganti Harish Madhur said his party will have no problem if the Bill is sent to a parliamentary committee.

Accepting the demand of the allies and the opposition parties, the government proposed to send this Bill to the JPC for detailed discussion.

The joint panel of both Houses formed to discuss the Waqf (Amendment) Bill includes 31 MPs -- 21 from Lok Sabha and 10 from Rajya Sabha -- from various parties, including the opposition.

BJP MP Jagdambika Pal has been appointed the Chairman of the JPC. In its first meeting scheduled on August 22, representatives from the Ministry of Minority Affairs will give details about the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, and the proposed amendments mentioned in it.

Officials of the Department of Legislative and Legal Affairs under the Ministry of Law and Justice will also be present at the meeting to clarify on the Bill's legal aspects.

After the discussions, the JPC will submit its report on the last day of the first week of the next Parliament session.