Page 3 - Waqf Board

Hindu outfits rally in Himachal demanding Waqf Board be abolished

Hundreds of people took out a rally in Himachal Pradesh's Hamirpur on Saturday under the banner of Devbhoomi Sangharsh Samiti, demanding abolishing the Waqf Board and verifying the identification documents of migrants to the state. The organisation had given a call for a statewide protest over the issues. Led by Surjeet Singh, the district president of the Devbhoomi Sangharsh Samiti and Ashish Sharma, the district chief of Bajrang Dal, the procession passed was attended by several people who waved saffron flags and banners. Police personnel were deployed in large numbers in the town to maintain law and order while shops owned by members of a minority religious community remained closed. Leaders of the Devbhoomi Sangharsh Samiti submitted a memorandum to the local administration demanding that the Waqf Board be abolished and identification documents of migrants be checked. Addressing the rally, the leaders of the organisation demanded that a proposal to check the documents of migra

Parl's joint committee on Waqf Bill will complete work on time: Rijiju

Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju Wednesday expressed confidence the Parliament's joint committee on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill will submit its report within the stipulated time, even as he asserted the consultation process is the most extensive in the history of the country's parliamentary democracy. Rijiju said the committee would fulfil the mandate of submitting its report before the last day of the first week of Parliament's Winter Session. "I feel the way and at the speed at which Parliament's joint committee is functioning, they should be able to table the report of the joint parliamentary committee as stipulated in the rule in the terms of reference...the committee has to submit the report before the last day of the first week of the Winter Session. They will fulfil it," Rijiju told a press conference on the first 100 days of the ministry. The dates for the Winter Session have not been announced yet. Asked about BJP MP Nishikant Dubey raising concerns over the nearly 1.2

Parliament panel on Waqf Bill receives over 120 million responses

A parliamentary panel examining the Waqf (Amendment) Bill has received a staggering 1.2 crore email responses amid campaigns launched by rival groups to ratchet up support for their respective viewpoints regarding the draft law. Parliamentary sources said the Joint Committee on the Waqf Amendment Bill, chaired by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Jagadambika Pal, has also received 75,000 responses with documents to support the respective views, prompting the panel to seek additional staff from the Lok Sabha Secretariat. "We have deployed 15 additional personnel to go through the email responses and categorise and document those," one of the sources said. Radical Islamic preacher Zakir Naik has appealed to his supporters to oppose the Waqf (Amendment) Bill by sending responses to the parliamentary panel examining the draft law. The appeal from Naik has triggered a counter-reaction and several Hindu groups too have urged their supporters to write emails to the committee in support

PM not visiting conflict-hit Manipur, trying to stop Ukraine war: Owaisi

AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not visit conflict-hit Manipur, but is attempting to stop the Russia-Ukraine war. Addressing a meeting at the AIMIM headquarters here, he wondered why Modi does not go to Manipur where violent incidents, including rapes against women, have been reported. "Our Modi ji. What did he do? Manipur has been burning for almost a year. (He) sent NSA to Putin to stop Ukraine war, to Zelensky. Modi ji, there is fire in the house. Stop it. There is fire in the house but no worry about the house. (But) war should not take place in Ukraine," he said. Taking exception to Union Minister of State for Home Bandi Sanjay Kumar's reported comments that Madrasas are training its students on using AK-47 rifles, Owaisi sought to know why the former has such hatred for Muslims. Muslims made sacrifices during the freedom movement and Madrasas had issued 'fatwa' (notice) to fight against the British, he said. "You have a dise

Joint Parliamentary Committee on Waqf Bill to hold discussion across cities

These consultations aim to refine the proposed amendments to the Waqf Act

Waqf Ammendment Bill 2024 to be passed in Parliament in coming days: Shah

During the meeting on September 18, representatives from the Ministry of Minority Affairs will record oral evidence before the committee on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024

Joint Parliamentary Committee to meet on Waqf Amendment Bill on Sept 18-20

During the meeting on September 18, representatives from the Ministry of Minority Affairs will record oral evidence before the committee

Parl panel issues summons ministry officials over rules of 2013 Waqf law

A parliamentary committee has summoned officials of the Minority Affairs Ministry to explain reasons for the delay in completing the process for framing subordinate legislation under the 2013 Waqf law. The decision of the Rajya Sabha Committee on Subordinate Legislation to call the secretary and representatives of the ministry next week comes at a time when a Joint Committee of Parliament is scrutinising the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 which seeks to amend the Waqf (Amendment) Act of 2013. The Rajya Sabha panel has also summoned officials of the Ministry of Defence on the reasons for delay in completing the process for framing of subordinate legislation under the Cantonment Act, 2006 on the same day. Both Houses of Parliament have their own committees on subordinate legislation which examine whether rules and by-laws related to a law are framed in time and are in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution. The 2013 Act had given certain powers to Waqf Boards. The 2024 bill

Waqf committee meetings become site of contesting claims from govt bodies

The Joint Committee of Parliament meetings on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill have turned out to be a battleground for contesting claims, as several government bodies have accused Waqf boards in the country of laying ownership on properties belonging to them and drawn sharp counterclaims. Opposition members in the committee have claimed that a large number of Waqf properties have been in fact in "unauthorised" possession of government bodies, including the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). AIMIM's Asaduddin Owaisi, one of the more vocal and articulate opposition voices in the meetings, submitted a list of 172 Waqf properties in Delhi alone, which, he said, were in the unauthorised possession of the ASI, sources said. His submission to the committee's chairperson and BJP member Jagdambika Pal came following the country's premier archaeology body's assertion that over 120 of its protected monuments are claimed by different Waqf boards. The ASI also accused them of unauthorised ...

Waqf Bill necessary, ASI tells Joint Parliamentary Committee in meet

Opposition parties have been continuously opposing the Waqf Board Amendment Bill in JPC meetings

Why did ED arrest AAP leader Amanatullah Khan?

Amanatullah produced before Delhi court by ED in money laundering case

The Enforcement Directorate on Monday produced AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan before a Delhi court in a money laundering case. The ED produced Khan before Special Judge Rakesh Syal, where it is likely to seek his custody in the case. He was taken into custody under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after the agency conducted a search at his residence in the Okhla area of the national capital earlier today.

ED arrests AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan in Delhi Waqf Board 'corruption' probe

In January this year, the agency had filed a charge sheet over alleged irregularities in the recruitment in Delhi Waqf Board under the chairmanship of Amanatullah Khan

AIMIM Chief Asaduddin Owaisi calls for protest against Waqf Ammendment Bill

The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, Waqf Act provides for the renaming of the Waqf Act, 1995, as the Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development Act, 1995

BJP's minority wing to seek Muslims' views on Waqf bill, notify parl panel

Amid strident criticism of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill by some major Muslim bodies, the BJP's 'Minority Morcha' will rally counterviews in support of reforms in Waqf boards and seek suggestions on the law to present it to the parliamentary committee examining the Bill. Sources said a team of seven BJP members, including state Waqf Board chairpersons, will elicit views of the minority community across the country and assuage their concerns on a host of issues. "We will convey to the committee every point of view. If there is any concern on any aspect of the Bill, we will express it as well. But the need for reforms in Waqf boards is felt by the community everywhere," a BJP leader claimed. They Minority Morcha will share the report with the BJP leadership and the parliamentary panel headed by veteran party MP Jagdambika Pal. The committee members include Shadab Shams, Sanwar Patel and Mohsin Lokhandwala, who head the boards in Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, and Haryana Waqf .

Joint Parl panel on Waqf Bill seeks suggestions from experts, stakeholders

The Joint Committee of Parliament scrutinising the Waqf (Amendment) Bill on Friday sought suggestions from stakeholders, experts and other institutions on the proposed law. The bill seeks to reforming the registration process for Waqf properties through a centralised portal. According to a statement issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat, the committee led by BJP's Jagdambika Pal has asked for "views/suggestions from the public in general and NGOs, experts, stakeholders and institutions in particular" considering the "wider implications" of the bill People have been asked to share their suggestions in writing in the next 15 days. The memoranda and suggestions submitted to the committee would form part of the records of the Committee and would be treated as "confidential", it said. Those who wish to appear before the committee, besides submitting views in writing, have been asked to specifically indicate so in their correspondence. The Bill is the first major initiative from the BJP-

New bill aims to destroy Waqf Board instead of protecting: Owaisi

AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday attacked the BJP-led NDA government on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill alleging that the proposed law instead of protecting Waqf properties aims to destroy them. Addressing a press conference here, the Hyderabad MP wanted Prime Minister Narendra Modi to withdraw the proposed legislation. "In this bill, instead of protecting Waqf Board and Waqf properties, it is a way of destroying them," Owaisi said, asserting that in this bill there is no provision of protecting Waqf, and accused the BJP of "lying". In the name of protecting Waqf, Narendra Modi and his government are trying to destroy it, he alleged adding that their intention is to destroy it. "A message has gone among the Muslims of the country that Narendra Modi wants to snatch Waqf properties from Muslims. We want the prime minister and the government to think over it and take back the proposed law," Owaisi said. The AIMIM chief also questioned various clauses of the bill, including the mo

Parliament panel on Waqf meets, Oppn MPs oppose proposed amendments

BJP members of the committee appreciated the proposed amendments, particularly the one that seeks to give representation to Muslim women in Waqf boards

First meet of Parliament joint committee panel on Waqf Bill underway

Parliament's Joint Committee on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill met here for the first time on Thursday where officials from the minority affairs and law ministries are briefing them about the various amendments proposed in the draft law. The 31-member committee, headed by BJP member Jagdambika Pal, has been tasked by the Lok Sabha to scrutinise the contentious bill, which has drawn protests from the opposition parties and Muslim organisations. The representatives from the minority affairs ministry were expected to brief the committee on the "amendments proposed on the Bill", the Lok Sabha secretariat said. The JPC will discuss the bill threadbare and also the concerns over it, Pal said ahead of the meeting, adding that voices of different stakeholders will be heard by the committee "We will discuss all the 44 amendments and bring a good and comprehensive Bill by next session," he said. Pal said the committee will call various Muslim bodies representing different sects to hear their ...

On a shoestring: Waqf wallet shrinks on dwindling property income

This is despite an increase in properties registered under the Waqf