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JPC report on Waqf Amendment Bill to be tabled in LS on Monday

The Opposition MPs allege that parts of their dissent note have been removed from the report without their consent as an attempt to suppress opposition voices

New Delhi: A stormy start to Parliament’s Budget Session is expected on Monday with the Jagdambika Pal-led Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) report on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill set to be tabled in the Lok Sabha. The Opposition MPs have alleged that parts of their dissent note have been removed from the report without their consent as an attempt to suppress opposition voices.

According to the Lok Sabha’s list of business, Mr Pal, who serves as the chairman of the JPC on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, along with BJP MP Sanjay Jaiswal will present the report in both Hindi and English. They will also place on record the evidence given before the committee.

However, Opposition MPs like Congress’ Syed Naseer Hussain and Mohammad Jawaid and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi claimed that sections of their dissent note on the bill were redacted without their knowledge. They have put the copies of their original dissent note along with the truncated copy, as placed in the JPC report, on the social media platform X to express their anguish.

"As a member of the Joint Committee on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, I had submitted a detailed dissent note opposing the bill. Shockingly, parts of my dissent note have been redacted without my knowledge! The Joint Committee on Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 was already reduced to a farce, but now they’ve stooped even lower -- censoring dissenting voices of Opposition MPs! What are they so scared of? Why this attempt to silence us? I am attaching the censored portions of my dissent note for the public to read. Let the truth be known!" wrote Mr Hussain on X while putting in public space the original dissent note written with other Congress MPs Mr Jawaid and Imran Masood.

From their original dissent notes, several paragraphs and sentences were omitted in the final JPC report, at times abruptly.

“Sections of our dissent note on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 have been redacted -- without any prior intimation! The Joint Committee was already a farce, and now they’re outright censoring Opposition voices. Democracy demands transparency, not suppression!” wrote Mr Jawaid.

“I had submitted a detailed dissent note to the Joint Committee against the Waqf (Amendment) Bill. It's shocking that parts of my note were redacted without my knowledge. The deleted sections were not controversial; they only stated facts,” wrote Mr Owaisi.

“The chairman @jagdambikapalmp got the report he wanted, but why stifle the Opposition's voice? Since he misused a rule to alter my report, I will soon release my complete dissent note for the public to read. Please compare the redacted and the original versions of my notes. What’s so objectionable?” wrote Mr Owaisi in his post along with his original dissent note.

( Source : Deccan Chronicle )
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