After fiery debates in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, the contentious Waqf (Amendment) Bill passed the Parliament test. However, opposition parties, who vehemently opposed the legislation divisive, arbitrary, and communally discriminating, were in no mood to eat the humble pie and have now moved the Supreme Court to challenge it.
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00:00Good evening, you're watching Super 6 here on India Today.
00:05I'm Akshita Ananthakopal and this evening we're focusing on the Vakf Amendment Bill
00:09for the third straight day.
00:11You may have thought the politics is over with this particular bill having passed the
00:16Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha test.
00:18So that crucial test is done.
00:21But having said that, what about the politics that's playing out?
00:25Well, the opposition continues their ruckus, now moving the courts over this issue.
00:29What we're showing you right now is the moment that the bill was passed, when we had chants
00:35of Jai Shri Ram.
00:36Just listen in to that.
00:37Those in favour will please say aye.
00:40Those against will please say no.
00:44I think, the ayes have it, the ayes have it, the ayes have it.
00:50The bill is passed.
00:59That's our focus on Super 6.
01:07Let's begin with the headlines.
01:08After two days of fiery showdown, the Vakf Bill passed in both houses of parliament.
01:13Prime Minister Modi hails the landmark legislation.
01:16Congress AIMIM moves Supreme Court.
01:19Kerala Muslim body slams Rahul and Priyanka over Vakf Bill, questions Priyanka's absence
01:46during voting, accuses Rahul of being silent in parliament during Vakf debate.
01:59Annamalai fuels suspense over Tamil Nadu BJP chief post, admits he's not in the race, says
02:04will jointly elect party state chief.
02:11BJP attacks Mamata over teachers recruitment scam, says Bengal most corrupt under Mamata
02:19and seeks her resignation as chief minister.
02:29Commerce minister plays Indian start-ups, Piyush Goyal's comment on start-ups triggers
02:34storm.
02:35Indian start-ups need a reality check, Piyush Goyal says.
02:38Founders hit back.
02:54And US revises tariffs for India from 27% to 26%.
02:59White House documents show 27% duty on India.
03:03Meanwhile, China imposes 34% additional tariffs now on US goods.
03:15So parliament done and dusted.
03:17The Vakf Amendment Bill has passed the Lok Sabha test and then the Rajya Sabha test,
03:21with the vote being conducted in the Rajya Sabha last night or rather early this morning.
03:26But the protests continue.
03:27The Congress MPs today, just before Lok Sabha was adjourned Sunday, were seen protesting
03:33the parliament complex, making it clear that the politics now continues.
03:37The Congress is also moving the Supreme Court, challenging the constitutionality of the legislation
03:42in the Supreme Court.
03:43The AIMIM also has followed suit.
03:45There are widespread protests now across India over the Vakf Amendment Bill.
03:50We'll round up all those updates for you first in our report and then decode the details
03:54further.
03:55The Vakf Amendment Bill gets parliament nod.
04:06The bill is passed.
04:09After two days of fiery debate, the bill renamed Umeed was passed by both Lok Sabha and Rajya
04:15Sabha.
04:17Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on a foreign visit, hailed the passage of the bill.
04:22The Prime Minister said the passage of the bill marked a watershed moment and that the
04:27amendment law will help those who have long remained on the margins, denied both voice
04:32and opportunity.
04:33The Vakf Amendment Bill has been supported by all.
04:37Many Vipass MPs have told us that they personally support the bill.
04:45After strongly protesting against the Vakf Amendment Bill in Parliament, the Congress
04:49is now preparing to move the Supreme Court once the bill gets parliament's nod.
05:14This is a clear attitude of the central government on minorities.
05:19Especially on Christians.
05:21Sometimes they will tell about the Munambam issue when the Vakf Bill is coming.
05:25Now you see the real color, their anti-minority attitude.
05:33Meanwhile protests erupted in many states against the Vakf Bill.
05:39Protesters with black bands in their arms like this, or, you know, they're lying down
05:46on the streets.
05:47As I said, this is a very, very busy intersection.
05:50Heavy police presence, senior police officers are here trying to man the streets because
05:54as I said, this is a very, very crucial intersection.
06:17Meanwhile, three senior leaders of the JDU have resigned from the party, citing disagreement
06:40over its support to the Vakf Amendment Bill.
06:43Mohammad Kazim Ansari, Mohammad Shahnawaz Malik, and Mohammad Tabrez Siddiqui, in separate
06:48letters to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, said the party had lost the trust of Muslim
06:54community.
06:55The RJD slammed the JDU over its stand on the Vakf Bill.
07:48And now you're seeing this quickly move from a political battle to a legal battle.
07:52After the Congress, the AIMIM has also moved the Supreme Court.
07:56Asaduddin Owaisi, the AIMIM chief, has filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the
08:00Vakf Bill, as Owaisi in his petition has said that the Vakf Bill is anti-constitutional.
08:06So we'll have to see how now this plays out in the courts.
08:09Remember that Owaisi, in the Lok Sabha, when speaking on the issue, ripped the bill apart,
08:14tore it, to say very clearly, I do not accept this particular legislation.
08:19So Asaduddin Owaisi made his voice heard and his protest against the bill in the parliament,
08:24now taking this forward in court as well.
08:28After ripping that paper, the Vakf Bill copy, in his hand at the Lok Sabha, he's now filed
08:32a petition in the Supreme Court.
08:34And I'd like to bring in Srishti Oja, a legal reporter, for more details.
08:38So Omde Srishti, multiple petitions now being filed in the Supreme Court in a matter of
08:43hours after the Vakf Amendment Bill was passed in Parliament.
08:46Well, yes, Akshita, we've seen two petitions that have been filed before the Supreme Court
08:52challenging the validity of the Vakf Amendment Act.
08:55One by Congress MP, Mohammad Javed, who's also challenged it on the grounds that it
08:59violates the fundamental rights which are accorded under the Constitution to the Muslims.
09:05Another one by MP, Mr. Owaisi, who's also challenged the Vakf Amendment on various grounds,
09:11one being that it violates the fundamental rights of the Muslim community.
09:15Grounds taken in Mr. Owaisi's petition is also that according to him and his petition
09:20before the top court, this Amendment Act take away various protections which were accorded
09:27to the Vakfs.
09:28He's saying that this diminishing of the protection by bringing in the amendment while
09:33retaining the same protections which are given to other religious or charitable endowments
09:37of other religions would be hostile discrimination against the Muslims and therefore violative
09:43of their rights.
09:44They're saying that while Parliament represents the will of the people in today's era, the
09:51Supreme Court, they've basically called in the Supreme Court and urged the top court
09:55to discharge its constitutional duty saying that the court will have to now protect the
10:00minority from the tyranny of the majority.
10:03So these are some big remarks that are made in Mr. Owaisi's petition which he has filed
10:08before the top court, challenging the amendments which are being brought.
10:13Interesting to note here that both these petitions have been filed before the Act has even been
10:18notified usually as far as the procedure goes.
10:21Challenge to the constitutional validity of Acts usually come in after the Act is formally
10:26officially notified and has received the precedent assent.
10:30So it may also be a little premature, we'll have to see what happens when these petitions
10:36come up before the top court, if these petitions are listed before the top court before the
10:43Acts are officially notified, that also might be a concern that or it's also something that
10:48might be also flagged by the top court itself when they in all likelihood may have to amend
10:53their petition considering the Act has not been notified yet.
10:56Exactly.
10:57Okay, interesting.
10:58We'll see what really plays out in the courts.
10:59Thanks very much Srishti for joining us with those details.
11:01All petitions essentially that have been filed before the top court right now say one thing,
11:05they claim that the Act or the bill rather is discriminatory against one particular community,
11:11against one religion.
11:12We'll see what the Supreme Court has to say, but it's not the first time that we've seen
11:15this kind of a fight playing out to the sense that you have a bill passing the scrutiny
11:19of Parliament and then it's taken up in the Supreme Court.
11:22We can list out for you a series of such instances, Article 370 abrogation, three petitions were
11:28filed in the Supreme Court in August 2019 over this issue.
11:33What did the Supreme Court do?
11:34Well, it decided on the multiple petitions filed upholding the decision that was taken
11:40of abrogation.
11:41It said that Article 370 was just a temporary provision.
11:44Here too you had multiple petitions saying that abrogation is simply not possible.
11:49The Supreme Court said the abrogation is very much possible.
11:52The legality of it was questioned.
11:54The Citizenship Amendment Act, another contentious issue and a reminder of that constantly being
11:58given to us amid the Vox debate, 200 petitions, 200 petitions were filed with the top court
12:05over this issue.
12:06What about the Supreme Court verdict?
12:08It's pending at this point.
12:10So we're still awaiting what the Supreme Court decides on this.
12:13But in March 2024, last year, when these petitioners also sought a stay on CEA till the court takes
12:18a decision on the matter, the Supreme Court didn't allow that saying there will be no
12:22stay.
12:23CEA will continue as is.
12:24When we give our verdict, we give our verdict.
12:27Triple talaq.
12:28Again, as soon as the bill was passed in 2019, you had three petitions being filed against
12:33this particular reform in August 2019.
12:37This was a bill, remember, that removed the concept of triple talaq.
12:41At this point, the Supreme Court is still hearing these petitions.
12:442019 is when the petitions were filed.
12:46At this point, the verdict is still pending.
12:48The Centre has been asked to submit details of cases since enactment of the bill because
12:54it's become an act now.
12:55There is a triple talaq essentially has been made illegal.
12:59So we'll have to see what really happens to the Supreme Court.
13:02CEC appointment bill, a very contentious issue.
13:05You had two petitions being filed last year on this, seeking quashing of the law.
13:09What was the law?
13:10In Parliament, essentially, it was decided that the members who are a part of the board,
13:15the CGI, will not be a part of the members for CEC appointment, which is the election
13:19commissioner.
13:20At this point, the Supreme Court is still hearing this matter.
13:23Again, much like previously, there was a petition seeking a stay on the implementation of the
13:29new law.
13:30The Supreme Court said, no, we will not stay it.
13:32We will give our verdict whenever it happens.
13:35Now the NJAC Act, which is the National Judicial Appointments Commission, right now in focus
13:40with what's happened with Justice Yashwant Verma.
13:43Now this bill essentially was challenged by Supreme Court advocates on record association.
13:50The Supreme Court advocates themselves filed this plea, saying that we can't have external
13:54bodies deciding on judicial appointments.
13:56Now the Supreme Court here took that step of repealing the bill.
14:00The EPICS Court termed the law as unconstitutional.
14:03They said that this is clearly interference in judicial matters by the executive.
14:07So interestingly, this is perhaps the only piece of legislation where you have actually
14:11seen the Supreme Court repealing the action, repealing the reform.
14:16The NJAC Act is the only one.
14:17The rest, some of them are pending.
14:19The others, the Supreme Court has upheld.
14:22The Act has upheld the reform.
14:24Let's get your more breaking news coming in on the Vakf Showdown.
14:36And it looks like for the NDA, there is some trouble over the Vakf Amendment Bill.
14:40It's not just from the opposition, but the JDU RLD has seen quite a bit of turmoil after
14:46they chose to support the bill in Parliament.
14:49There are minority leaders, Muslim leaders from JDU and RLD who've been resigning.
14:53A wave of resignations that have hit the JDU with five JDU leaders, two RLD leaders quitting
15:00their parties over their support for the Vakf Bill.
15:03The RLD and the JDU in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha voted in favor of the Vakf Amendment
15:08Bill.
15:09They put forth some terms and conditions which was accepted.
15:11So they went ahead and provided their support for the bill.
15:14And because of that, there seems to be backlash within the party for the JDU particularly
15:18not looking good considering they're just months away from elections.
15:44Okay, let's bring in Rohit Singh for more details.
16:03He's joining us live from Patna.
16:05Rohit, there will be questions about what kind of repercussions the JDU will face as
16:09a result of having voted in favor of the Vakf Amendment Bill.
16:13Five leaders have already quit the party.
16:16Muslim leaders.
16:17Rohit, what is the impact this will have on the party especially considering we're months
16:20away from elections in Bihar?
16:23Well, Akshita, it was very much on unexpected lands what is happening in the last 24 hours.
16:31We are seeing that ripples being felt in the NDA as also in Janata Dal United after Nitish
16:37Kumar decided to support the Vakf Amendment Bill in Lok Sabha as well as the Rajya Sabha
16:42where this bill has been passed.
16:44And in the last 24 hours, at least five Muslim leaders, Muslim faces of the Janata Dal United
16:50have resigned.
16:52Now the question is that they may not be big faces, big names, but as I've been always
16:57telling Akshita, politics is all about perception and the perception that is being built here
17:05in Bihar right now is that Muslims are extremely, extremely upset, especially Muslim leaders
17:11who are part of the Janata Dal United.
17:14They are extremely miffed with Nitish Kumar.
17:16Just last week, Nitish Kumar was attending a series of Iftar parties in Patna and just
17:22a week later we are seeing that he has supported the Vakf Amendment Bill which the Muslim community
17:28has been opposing vehemently.
17:30So several leaders have already quit the party.
17:33Two or three big faces have already aired their angst against Nitish Kumar.
17:39They have voiced their concern and it is almost certain, Akshita, that in days to come
17:43you will see more resignations coming out and more and more Muslim leaders resigning
17:49because see it's an election year and nobody wants to burn their own finger by remaining
17:54in Janata Dal United because everyone knows that if they stay in Janata Dal United, especially
17:59the Muslim leaders, they will have to face the backlash in the elections.
18:02So clearly there is going to be an impact with the Muslim vote bank of the JDU.
18:07How bad will it really be for the JDU?
18:09How badly will it dent them in the upcoming elections?
18:11We'll just have to wait and see.
18:13Thanks Rohit for those details.
18:16And focusing on the Vakf debate, if you missed out on some of the highlights of what was
18:20really playing out in the Rajya Sabha, we've got you covered.
18:22One of the most viral moments from the debate is what we're about to show you of Ram Dass
18:28Atavle's rather poetic jabs that left the house in splits.
18:31One of those moments when you had both the government and opposition all laughing it
18:36out together.
18:37Here's Ram Dass.
20:07I'll leave it to Mr. Atavle to get both the
20:36opposition and the government in splits, laughing it out together.
20:41Let's get you another moment that's been spoken about a whole lot from Rajya Sabha, where
20:46you had Rajya Sabha MP, MDMK chief Vaikunth speaking and threatening BJP MPs, essentially
20:53threatening them in Tamil saying, step foot in Tamil Nadu and we'll teach you a lesson.
20:57And over this, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also lashed out at Vaikunth.
21:02Let's take a look at that exchange.
21:29He might be very emotional, sir, but that one line he said is objectionable, and I will
21:34seek your indulgence to remove it.
21:37He said, you enter Tamil Nadu, I'll see you.
21:42No good.
21:43No good.
21:44We have a home minister, after a long time, who has brought a lot of people to Tamil Nadu.
22:14He has brought about changes unthinkable.
22:17What he said, you can be fully assured.
22:23So with all that transpired essentially in parliament, you've got now a Kerala Muslim
22:29body lashing out at both Priyanka and Rahul Gandhi over the Vox debate.
22:33Now the mouthpiece of an influential Muslim social organisation in Kerala has criticised
22:38the Gandhis.
22:39The editorial questioned why Rahul Gandhi was silent during the entire debate on Vox
22:44and lashed out at him for not speaking up for minorities and said, why didn't he choose
22:50to be a part of the Vox debate?
22:52Now the editorial also lashed out at Priyanka Gandhi, questioning why she wasn't there,
22:56saying her absence is a black mark on her political record.
23:00They added that this indicates her lack of seriousness and responsibilities towards her
23:04duties as a parliamentarian.
23:06So harsh, scathing remarks there by a Muslim body in Kerala.
23:10Shibi Mool is joining us with more details on this.
23:13Shibi, take us through really what was said in this particular column that was published
23:17by a Kerala Muslim body where they've pulled up Rahul Gandhi, they've pulled up Priyanka
23:21Gandhi.
23:22Also tell us about this organisation.
23:24How influential are they in Kerala?
23:27Well, Akshita, this was through a newspaper called Suprabadham Daily, which is the mouthpiece
23:38of Samastha.
23:39Samastha is a very prominent Muslim organisation in the state, one of the most influential,
23:44politically influential organisation here.
23:47They're mostly backed the left in certain elections unofficially, but very strong influence
23:52the organisation has in the state.
23:54It's through their daily mouthpiece, Suprabadham, that they've criticised Priyanka Gandhi as
23:58well as Rahul Gandhi.
23:59In fact, it was a piece analysing the work of amendment bill with the title that, you
24:02know, now it's the time for a legal battle because whatever can be done can be done at
24:07the court.
24:08That's the explainer that they start with, but then later goes on to criticise Priyanka
24:11Gandhi for not being present in the parliament, in the house when the bill was taken for discussion,
24:16saying that being the most prominent face among the Kerala MPs in the state, she should
24:21have been there.
24:22She should have been there.
24:23She should have spoken about it is what the daily criticises.
24:27They also criticises Rahul Gandhi, the leader of opposition, saying that it was not just
24:31essential to be present there.
24:32He should have been there and about, he should have been there and speaking in the house,
24:36taking part in this discussion.
24:37He stood there seeing how the, you know, how the fundamental rights of Muslim community
24:43was getting bulldozed.
24:44That's a criticism that, you know, this Suprabadham daily through the editorial takes on Rahul
24:48Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi.
24:50They've also gone on to appreciate the India bloc parties like TNC left parties and the
24:54Congress also for taking a stand together and opposing the, you know, the work of amendment
24:59bill.
25:00So we'll wait for a reaction from the Gandhis or the Congress on those comments.
25:03Thanks Shubhie for joining us with those details.
25:06Okay, away from Vox, let's focus now on the latest from the Indian Premier League, away
25:12from the Indian Political League.
25:14Venkatesh Iyer smashed his way back to form as the Kolkata Knight Riders comprehensively
25:18defeated the opponents from the last season's final.
25:20And today it'll be a face off between the Lucknow Supergiants and Mumbai Indians.
25:25More in our report.
25:26Over to you.
25:27Heads.
25:28In a highly anticipated encounter, Sunrisers Hyderabad were up against Kolkata Knight Riders
25:35at the iconic Eden Gardens.
25:37We're going to have a ball first.
25:40Asked to bat first, Kolkata suffered early dents, but Ankari, Shrakuvanshi and Ajinkya
25:45Rahane pushed on with some amazing stroke play.
25:48No chance.
25:49Venkatesh Iyer and Rinku Singh led the carnage in the death overs as the defending champions
25:57finished exactly on 200.
26:05In reply, Hyderabad lost wickets at regular intervals and were bowled out for a paltry
26:10120, losing their third match in succession.
26:14Today it will be a contest between Lucknow Supergiants and Mumbai Indians at the Ikana
26:24Stadium.
26:27All eyes will be on Rishabh Pant and Rohit Sharma, both of whom are yet to click with
26:32the bat.
26:33LSG will be looking to overcome the unhappy homecoming after a thumping defeat against
26:40Punjab Kings.
26:42Mumbai, on the other hand, will be seeking a continuation of their 5E form.