Oppn MPs say parts of dissent notes on Waqf report deleted

BJP lawmaker and chairman of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) discussing the Waqf Bill Jagdambika Pal responded to claims by opposition leaders that only edited versions of their dissent notes were carried and said that the substantive parts of their objections were carried, “personal abuses” weren’t, and that after the adoption of the report, there is no scope for changes.

The JPC adopted the report by a 15-11 majority on January 29.

On Monday, Opposition lawmakers alleged that the panel ignored representations from stakeholders, depositions of witnesses, and their own submissions. Pal told HT that the panel fulfilled its duty, spoke to a wide range of stakeholders and held 38 meetings to discuss the bill.

Defending the decision to delete some parts of the dissent notes, Pal said, “It is the right of every member of a committee to give dissent notes to express their views on the various clauses of the bill. During the discussion on the bills, every member has spoken at length on the clauses. Speeches and dissent note are not the same. The report contains all the objections on the clauses of the bill, but personal abuses can’t be part of the report.”