In its 655-page-long draft report circulated less than 24 hours before the panel’s final meeting, the Parliament’s Joint Committee on Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, has urged the government to introduce a law to protect tribal land from being declared as “Waqf” property.
The panel, in its report, claimed that it has recently noticed numerous cases concerning declaration of Waqf lands in tribal areas. This, the report said, creates a serious threat to the existence of these cultural minorities whose religious practices are distinct and do not follow those prescribed under Islam. “The increase in the quantum of land acquired by the Waqf Board and the number of litigation underscore the urgent need to address this serious concern,” the panel said in its report.
The report does not provide clarity on the number of complaints that the panel received on the issue or the number of such cases it has looked into.
The report, as per sources, has directed the government to ensure that the protection accorded to Scheduled Tribes and tribal lands under the Fifth and Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution must be upheld and any threat, “perceived or real”, needs to be addressed. The panel has asked the Union Minority Affairs Ministry to take “appropriate legislative measures to forestall declaration of tribal lands as “Waqf land”.
Meanwhile, the Opposition MPs on the panel criticised BJP leader and panel Chairman Jagdambika Pal, for circulating the report, with little time to go over it before Wednesday’s (January 29, 2025) final meeting.
DMK MP A. Raja said that the panel has been reduced to a farce. “We were told that the draft report of the committee will be discussed at 10:00 a.m. It is 655 pages and has been sent to us just now. MPs are expected to go through it and provide comments and submit dissent notes. This is simply not possible. What is the point of an independent parliamentary committee if the government does as it pleases anyway?” he said in a post on X.
