Key Takeaways
- The Rajya Sabha witnessed chaotic scenes as Opposition members protested against the Waqf Amendment Bill report.
- The Joint Parliamentary Committee report on the Waqf Amendment Bill has been criticized for deleting dissent notes.
- The Opposition members have vowed to not allow the passage of the report until their concerns are addressed.
New Delhi: The Rajya Sabha on Thursday witnessed chaotic scenes leading to a brief adjournment of the House as Opposition members protested over the ‘deletion’ of dissent notes to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) report on the Waqf Amendment Bill.
As soon as the report was tabled in the Upper House after the House proceedings began for the day, the Opposition members started protesting against it.
Amid din, the House Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar adjourned the House for 20 minutes.
When the House reassembled after the brief adjournment, Opposition members continued their protests.
Leader of the Opposition (LoP) and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge claimed that the Committee on Waqf Amendment Bill had deleted the dissent notes of MPs and included views of people from outside.
He termed the move as unconstitutional, vowing to not allow the passage of such a report.
“If a report is prepared by deleting the dissent note, I condemn it. I will never accept such a farzi (bogus) report,” the LoP said.
AAP leader Sanjay Singh also strongly protested against the ‘deletion’ of dissent notes.
“I am a member of the committee on the Waqf Bill. In that position I presented my views. You may agree or disagree with our view. But how can you put them in the dustbin? Singh said.
Union Minister of Minority Affairs Kiren Rijiju, however, said that none of the dissent notes had been deleted and all of them had been attached to the annexure of the report.
There is no deletion, removal of any part of the report (on Waqf Amendment Bill). Everything is tabled on the floor of the House. The members of Opposition parties are making an unnecessary issue by raising an issue that is not a fact. Dissent notes of all the Opposition members are attached in the appendix of the report,” he said.
