"Waqf Bill a direct attack on Constitution": Congress' Jairam Ramesh

New Delhi [India], March 31 : Congress MP and party's General Secretary in-charge Communications Jairam Ramesh on Monday called the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, "a direct attack on Constitution," vowing to protest against the implementation of the bill, and demanding that NDA allies Telegu Desam Party (TDP) and Janata Dal (United) clarify their stance on the issue.
"Waqf (Amendment) Bill is a direct attack on the constitution and against its foundation, it has been bulldozed through the JPC (Joint Parliamentary Committee). If they implement it, we will we will oppose it democratically," Jairam Ramesh told ANI.
"Every opposition party opposes it, Samajwadi Party, TMC, AAP, everyone opposes it, but the question is what parties like JD(U) and TDP do? The parties who call themselves secular, who say they believe in it, what is their stand on it?" he added.
Claiming that the bill was "bulldozed" through the Joint Parliamentary Committee, he said that a thorough discussion of each clause was not done in the committee.
"The way JPC was conducted, this was the first time that there was no clause-by-clause discussion in the committee, when it is referred, each clause is debated, even I have been part of many JPC's, we try to reach a consensus, and if that is not reached then we give a dissent note, but we do try to reach a complete consensus, or a simple consensus," he said.
Claiming that the parliament was only given two days to read a 450 page report, he added, "But this time, a 450 page report was given to Parliament and we were told to read it in 2 days, and clause by clause discussion was not done then too, this is against Parliamentary traditions and procedures, but also an attack on the Constitution."
Earlier today, Kerala Catholic Bishops' Council (KCBC) extended support to the Bill, urging MPs to vote in favour of amending the "unconstitutional" and "unjust" provisions of the Waqf Act.
The statement issued by Fr. Thomas Tharayil of the KCBC secretariat said that provisions in the Waqf law, which legitimise the "illegal claims" in such a way that people in Munambam are unable to exercise their revenue claims on the land, need to be amended.
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, also called the 'Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency, and Development (UMEED) Bill' aims to address key challenges by introducing reforms such as digitisation, enhanced audits, improved transparency, and legal mechanisms to reclaim illegally occupied properties.
The Waqf Act of 1995, enacted to regulate Waqf properties, has long been criticised for issues such as mismanagement, corruption, and encroachments.