The government is slated to table the Waqf Bill before the Lok Sabha this week amid continued protest in the Opposition ranks. Home Minister Amit Shah had earlier indicated that the document would come before the Lower House of Parliament before the Budget session concluded on April 4.
“We will table the Waqf amendment bill in this Parliament session. Nobody needs to get afraid of the Waqf Bill. In 2013, the Congress-led government passed the Waqf Bill and made several provisions that are not aligned with our Constitution. We are now trying to align the bill with constitutional principles,” Shah insisted during the recent Times Now Summit.
Speculative reports suggest that the Bill will be tabled on April 2 and a Joint Parliamentary Committee has already given its report on the Waqf Bill. Meanwhile Shah indicated that the bill would not be implemented with retrospective effect and people with grievances would have the option to go before the court.
Protests broke out in some parts of the country against the controversial Bill on Monday amid Eid-ul-Fitr celebrations. A group of people in Hyderabad were spotted tying black bands around their arms to mark their dissent outside the Ujale Shah Eidgah in Saidabad. Some also led protests against the Bill in Aishbagh as people gathered to offer prayers.
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board had also appealed for the community to wear black armbands while they offered Jumatul Vida on the final Friday of Ramazan. The call to action had drawn a significant response with many people spotted wearing black armbands while offering Friday prayers in Lucknow, Hyderabad and other cities. Political leaders including AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi had also joined the symbolic protest — wearing a black armband as he offered prayers on Friday.
“Chandrababu Naidu, Nitish Kumar, Chirag Paswan and Jayant Chaudhary, remember that we will never forgive you. You are allowing BJP to attack our Shariat. If these four say that the Bill (Waqf Bill) should not be brought, then it will not be brought. But you are permitting the BJP to finish our mosques, our Waqf. We are sporting a black band against Waqf Bill, by the order of AIMPLB. Through this Waqf Bill, Narendra Modi is shooting bullets on our chest, on our mosques, on our dargahs,” he added during a public meeting on Friday.