Union Minister Kiren Rijiju introduced the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday amid a heated NDA vs. INDIA bloc tussle. Before the tabling, Rijiju claimed that many opposition members privately supported the bill despite publicly opposing it, adding a new twist to the debate.
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00:00Mr. President, we don't need to go into too much detail.
00:05We have already discussed the committee.
00:09But I would like to say that the committee that has been discussed on the Walk Amendment Bill
00:19by the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha,
00:23has never been discussed, consulted, and given time so extensively in the history of India.
00:33Therefore, I would like to thank the members of the Joint Committee,
00:38the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, and the members of that committee on behalf of the government.
00:49Mr. President, a total of 97,27,772 applications, online, physical, in the form of a memorandum,
01:05in the form of a request, and in the form of suggestions,
01:09the government has seen it through the JPC, or has given it directly,
01:16we have seen it all.
01:18More than this, never before has there been a request for more than this in any bill.
01:27A total of 284 delegations from different communities,
01:34from stakeholders, have presented their views and suggestions to the committee.
01:4125 state governments and union territories' work boards have also submitted their submissions.
01:49In addition to this, many legal luminaries, scholars in our society, community leaders,
01:56representatives of various religious organizations, charitable organizations,
02:01civil society, academicians, researchers, policy makers, have all presented their views to the committee.
02:09In addition to this, I would like to say, sir,
02:14what I am going to say to you today,
02:18last time when we presented this bill to the committee,
02:23I had said many things,
02:26today I will not repeat them,
02:29I will add a few things,
02:31and after I have said what I wanted to say,
02:34I do not only have hope,
02:36I have complete faith that those who were opposing this bill,
02:40will have a change of heart,
02:43with positive thinking,
02:45everyone will agree to this bill,
02:48I want to say this with confidence.
02:53Because I want to say this with a positive note,
02:56so I want to say what is in my heart,
03:02so that a good message can be conveyed.
03:06No matter what anyone thinks,
03:13the pain of this earth will never be the same as that of the sky.
03:17I am saying this from my heart,
03:20because with good thinking,
03:22with a big heart,
03:24with an open mind,
03:25I am presenting this bill to you.
03:28Sir, many people have said things in their own way,
03:33some have said,
03:35this bill is unconstitutional,
03:39some have said it is illegal, unlawful.
03:43Sir, this bill that we are discussing,
03:47is nothing new.
03:49Before independence,
03:51when the Muslim Waqf Validating Act was passed for the first time,
03:56in 1913,
03:58that is when its history begins.
04:01Before that, the Privy Council,
04:03in 1894,
04:05invalidated the Waqf-al-Aulad.
04:08Later, in its proper legal form,
04:12after 1913,
04:14in 1923,
04:16the Muslim Waqf Act was introduced,
04:19in which,
04:21this act was passed,
04:23giving it an emphasis on accounting and transparency.
04:28After that, in 1930,
04:31the Muslim Waqf Validating Act was introduced,
04:35which reinforces the legal validity of the family Waqf.
04:40The family Waqf,
04:42is reinforced by this bill.
04:45After independence,
04:47in 1954,
04:49in 1954,
04:51the Muslim Waqf Act was introduced for the first time.
04:56At that time,
04:58the State Waqf Board was introduced,
05:00in the same 1954 act.
05:04From that time,
05:07with many amendments,
05:09in 1995,
05:11the Waqf Act was introduced.
05:14At that time,
05:16no one said,
05:18that this act is unconstitutional.
05:20No one said,
05:22that it is unlawful.
05:24Today, when we are reforming the same bill,
05:26then how did you get the opportunity to use the words,
05:30unconstitutional, unlawful?
05:33Why did you get this idea?
05:35If you think with a pure heart,
05:38and your mind is clear,
05:40then you go for logic.
05:42The logic in this amendment bill,
05:45you talk about that.
05:47You leave that,
05:49which has nothing to do with this bill.
05:51After that,
05:53you mislead people,
05:55you mislead people,
05:57I want to clear that in the beginning.
06:01Mr. President,
06:03In 1995,
06:05the first arrangement of the Tribunal was made.
06:08So that,
06:10if anyone does not like any decision of the Waqf Board,
06:15or wants to challenge it,
06:17then you can go to the Waqf Tribunal.
06:20That was the first provision.
06:22And at that time, it was also decided,
06:24that more than 5 lakhs of income is in some Waqf property,
06:28for that,
06:29government executive officers will be appointed.
06:32This also started in 1995.
06:35Mr. President,
06:37why is this a trigger point today?
06:40Where did the need to bring this amendment bill start?
06:46I want to tell you in detail.
06:48In 2013,
06:50in 2014,
06:52we all went to the elections.
06:54And before going to the elections,
06:57in 2013,
06:59some steps were taken,
07:01which you must have heard.
07:03As a member of this country,
07:05and as a citizen of this country,
07:07you must have wondered,
07:10why such a step was taken.
07:12Sir,
07:14in 2013,
07:15the first amendment was made,
07:17that in this country,
07:19any person,
07:21any human being,
07:22whether he is Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian,
07:25Parsi, Buddhist, Jain,
07:27can create Waqf.
07:29Everyone knows that Waqf,
07:31for a Muslim,
07:33for Allah,
07:35for his pious, charitable, religious purpose,
07:38Waqf is created.
07:40But by diluting it,
07:42in 2013,
07:44anyone can create Waqf.
07:46This amendment was first made by the UPS government at that time.
07:50Secondly,
07:51you specified all the Waqf,
07:54that there will be only Siyahs in the Siyah board,
07:57only Siyahs will remain in the Siyah board,
07:59and no matter which board,
08:01only their people will remain.
08:03No one else can come in it.
08:05This is what you specified.
08:07Thirdly,
08:08in 2008,
08:10Sir,
08:12after listening patiently,
08:14whatever you will ask,
08:16we will definitely get a reply.
08:18This is the last month of the debate.
08:20I will get a reply again.
08:22So, when I am keeping some perspective in the beginning,
08:25no one should interfere in this.
08:27Listen carefully,
08:29so that the level of our debate remains high,
08:31and logic also comes in front.