Spearheading the Opposition assault on the Waqf (Modification) Invoice in Lok Sabha, the Congress mentioned Wednesday that the federal government was out to “dilute the Structure” and was intentionally focusing on the beliefs and practices of the Muslim neighborhood.
Gaurav Gogoi, Deputy Chief of the Congress in Lok Sabha, who opened for the Opposition within the debate over the Invoice, requested the BJP what number of Muslim MPs did it have and mentioned the federal government was attempting to “defame the minority communities, divide Indian society and disenfranchise minority communities”.
Gogoi’s social gathering colleague Ok C Venugopal mentioned, “They’ve just one agenda — to divide Bharat Mata within the identify of faith.” Questioning why non-Muslims had been to be included within the Waqf Board, he referred to the Vaishno Devi Temple Act which said that the Lt Governor can be the chairman of the Board, and if he was not a Hindu, he would nominate a Hindu to the place.
Venugopal mentioned the Devaswom Board in Kerala may have solely Hindu MLAs voting in it. “You’re discriminating right here, after which claiming it isn’t unconstitutional,” he mentioned, asserting that Waqf properties had been as spiritual as temple trusts.
“At present you might be in opposition to Muslims. Tomorrow, you’ll be in opposition to Christians, then Jains after which Sikhs,” he mentioned. Venugopal sought to know whether or not the federal government would have a separate division to determine who had practised Islam for 5 years, and mentioned that in India, folks had been free to follow any faith the day they selected to.
“I’m a Hindu faith believer… You didn’t ship on governance, however used faith to divide the nation,” he mentioned.
Taking swipes on the BJP, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav mentioned, “There may be competitors inside the BJP on who’s a worse Hindu. The social gathering that claims to have the very best membership on this planet shouldn’t be capable of elect its president,” he mentioned.
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On listening to this, Union House Minister Amit Shah interjected, saying, “Akhilesh ji has mentioned this with a smile and I’ll reply with a smile. In all these events, solely 5 folks from a household should elect the president. We now have to elect from 12 crore members. It’s a protracted course of. In your social gathering it received’t take time. I’m telling you now that you’ll be president for the following 25 years.”
Yadav mentioned the Waqf Invoice was aimed as a distraction from the federal government’s a number of failures: “They had been speaking concerning the many progressive Payments they’ve introduced. That they had equally provide you with demonetisation after nice preparation. Let’s focus on that too. There may be failure on different fronts: rising costs, unemployment, and farmers’ earnings. Have Ganga and Yamuna been cleaned up? Have good cities come up? Have they deserted the villages that they had adopted? This time, this Waqf Invoice is the veil on these failures.”
He mentioned it was an injustice to not give significance to the opinion of the folks for whom this Invoice was being introduced.
TDP, JDU’s Muslim dilemma
Each the TDP and JD(U) lead states — Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, respectively — with important Muslim populations. Their balancing act on the Waqf Invoice should account for the help they’ve historically loved among the many neighborhood.
Yadav recommended that political leaders had been prevented from collaborating in Eid celebrations and questioned if this was the tradition of the nation.
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Declaring that the Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju himself was a Buddhist and, due to this fact, an individual from a minority, Yadav mentioned, “This isn’t Buddha’s manner. You don’t imagine in our Puranas, however nonetheless we name you our personal. That’s who Hindus are.”
“BJP is speaking about demarcating properties of Muslims below the Waqf so {that a} veil of secrecy will be placed on the identification of those that died within the Mahakumbh…. The federal government mentioned it was ready to host 100 crore folks, and… ought to inform the place are the 1,000 Hindus who’ve gone lacking within the Kumbh? The UP CM is caught with the quantity 30 as if he’s Tees Maar Khan,” he mentioned.
Claiming that the federal government supposed to grab away homes and retailers from folks, Yadav mentioned the BJP wished Muslims to really feel agitated in order that it may polarise the ambiance.
TMC’s Kalyan Banerjee mentioned Waqf was an establishment for spiritual and charitable functions, and that Muslims had the constitutional proper to handle their affairs.
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“Waqf property belongs to Allah. Muslims have a proper to manage such property. The aim of the Invoice is a transparent breach of the rights of Muslims to carry out their spiritual responsibility. It’s a violation of Article 26 of the Structure. The Invoice hits the Fundamental Construction of the Structure,” he mentioned.
Questioning the brand new title of the Waqf Invoice, UMEED (Unified Waqf Administration Empowerment, Effectivity and Improvement), Banerjee mentioned it was chosen to decrease the historic significance of the time period Waqf, which was deeply rooted in faith and Islamic jurisprudence. He mentioned the federal government had no proper to divide the Waqf on caste strains, as no caste was outlined for Muslims within the Structure.
He mentioned the Invoice would permit the federal government to take management of Waqf properties and alleged that a lot of Waqf properties in Rajasthan had been taken over by the federal government.
Calling the Invoice an assault on the Structure, Gogoi mentioned, “The Invoice talks about any individual displaying or demonstrating that he’s practising Islam. Individuals must give certificates to the federal government as to which faith they imagine in. Do they ask every other neighborhood whether or not you practise your faith for 5 years?”
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He mentioned allowing any individual, and never only a Muslim, to create a Waqf was really a secular precept, including that greater than two members of the Waqf Board might be ladies even within the 1995 Act.
“Their eyes are on the properties and lands of a sure neighborhood. Tomorrow, they’ll eye the lands of different communities,” he mentioned.
“They are saying that courts had been powerless after the ruling of the Waqf Tribunal. That is false. The Excessive Court docket had the ability to intervene below the 2013 Act. Below the father or mother Act, below Part 96, the Centre had the ability to provide instructions to the state governments, who may give instructions to the Board in case of injustice. What number of occasions within the final 11 years did you give any course?” Gogoi mentioned, countering the federal government’s cost.
Questioning whether or not the Centre was attempting to taint a neighborhood that additionally took half within the freedom wrestle, Gogoi mentioned, “Our nationalism is to be united in mutual love for Bharat Mata. It’s respect for the Tricolour that you simply didn’t respect.”
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“Which neighborhood do you wish to mislead? The identical neighborhood that fought for India’s independence? The neighborhood that sacrificed alongside Mangal Pandey in 1857? You wish to tarnish the popularity of a neighborhood by which two lakh ulema who had been martyred? You wish to defame the neighborhood which rejected the British divide-and-rule coverage? You didn’t help the Stop India motion, however you search to defame the neighborhood that supported us throughout the Stop India Motion? You wish to stain the identify of the neighborhood that supported the Dandi March on April 6, 1930?” he mentioned.
A Raja of the DMK mentioned it was ironic that no Muslim MP was saying the Invoice would defend the rights of the Muslim neighborhood. “They (BJP) don’t have a Muslim MP who can stand and communicate in favour of the Invoice or pilot the Invoice,” he mentioned.
