Opposition members demand more time from the Waqf Commission to submit a report

Opposition members on Thursday demanded that the term of the Joint Committee on the Waqf Amendment Bill be extended, arguing that they need more time to study changes in the bill.

At the committee meeting, BJP chairman and member Jagdambika Pal announced that Thursday’s meeting will be the last meeting of the commission and the draft report will be circulated to the members soon.

This led to protests by opposition members who resorted to slogans and some of them called Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and asked him to intervene in the matter.

The Lok Sabha has asked the committee to submit its report on the last day of the first week of the winter session of Parliament starting on Monday.

The government has already tabled the Waqf (Amendment) Bill for consideration and passage in the winter session “after the report of the joint committee is submitted to the Lok Sabha.”

In the past, Opposition members serving on the panel had also accused Pal, a BJP MP, of taking orders from the government. Previously, they even threatened to dissociate themselves from the work of the commission.

Their main concern was the frequent one-day commission meetings, which did not allow them to prepare adequately and accused Pal of “curtailing the proceedings” by not consulting them in choosing who to call for removal.

Several opposition members of the committee had earlier also opposed Speaker Birla against Pal.