Bengal Assembly passes resolution seeking withdrawal of Waqf Bill

Kolkata: A resolution was passed in the Bengal Assembly on Tuesday by voice vote urging the withdrawal of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024 in Parliament, even as the BJP legislators staged a walkout opposing it.

Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, the Parliamentary affairs minister while speaking in support of the resolution said the Bill contains provisions to revise the composition of the Central Waqf Council and State Waqf boards, reducing Muslim representation to a minimum level.

Chattopadhyay also slammed the BJP MLAs for their walkout saying: “Those who have not taken part in a single Business Advisory (BA) committee meeting in the past three years are opposing the resolution only for the sake of opposition.”

“There are concerns that several provisions of the Bill are perceived to be anti-people and draconian, which pose a serious threat to the fundamental rights of a particular religious community,” Chattopadhyay said while speaking in favour of the resolution.

Chattopadhyay who moved the resolution also claimed that the bill, if passed, will affect the Waqf administration in the country. BJP members, however, staged a walkout from the House during the discussion on the resolution. Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said the resolution was a waste of precious time of the House as a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) has been formed to examine the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, and that its term was recently extended till the last day of the budget session of Parliament in 2025.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during her Assembly address on Monday said that the Union government has brought the step towards legislation without any consultation with state governments. While participating in the first day of the two-day discussion on the resolution on Monday, Banerjee slammed the BJP-led central government over the bill, accusing it of targeting Muslims.

Adhikari on the other hand on Tuesday during his address in the Assembly claimed that the resolution was brought in with the purpose of promoting vote-bank politics.

“Views of representatives of states and the Waqf boards were taken into account before the Bill was introduced in Parliament,” Adhikari stated.

Claiming that the BJP-led NDA has the required number in Parliament to pass the Bill, Adhikari said that despite dissent by Opposition parties, the bills on Triple Talaq, abrogation of Article 370 and the Citizenship Amendment Act went through.

The BJP MLAs also claimed that there was no interference in Muslim rights and that the Centre wants to digitise Waqf properties for their benefit.