All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi, on Friday, alleged that the dissent note he submitted to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on Waqf Amendment Bill 2024, was redacted without his knowledge.
He accused panel chairman Jagdambika Pal of stifling the Opposition’s voice and sought to know why the panel thought his note was objectionable.
The Hyderabad MP purportedly juxtaposed the JPC’s final report with his original dissent note. The former appeared to have redacted sections of his note, while the latter highlighted the redacted sections.
Among the alleged redacted sections of the dissent note was Mr. Owaisi’s opinion on the government taking cognizance of the ‘threat’ to Scheduled Tribes, and recommending steps to prevent tribal land from being declared as waqf property.
Mr. Owaisi argued that the committee did not take into account that an ST member could be a Muslim. He further contended that if an ST member is a Muslim, it does not affect his or her status, unlike the case of Scheduled Castes.
Other allegedly redacted sections contained Mr. Owaisi stating that the Bill was not beneficial for the cause of waqf, and that the Waqf Amendment Bill 2024 was an attempt of the ruling dispensation to undermine the rights of Muslims.
He also raised questions on the sincerity of the consultative process, and said that the panel had not accepted thorough arguments that the stakeholders had submitted.
