PUNE, 23 Sep: Union minister Kiren Rijiju on Monday said that the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill has got recommendations in “crores” and asserted that wrong information is being spread by some about the bill.
Sources on Sunday said that the parliamentary panel examining the Waqf (Amendment) Bill received a staggering 1.2 crore email responses. The panel, led by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Jagadambika Pal, has also received 75,000 responses with documents to support the respective views.
The bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 8 August and was then referred to a JPC after a heated debate.
“No one ever thought a JPC would receive recommendations in crores. Even if 1,000 recommendations or representations were made, we used to consider it a big number,” Rijiju told reporters on the sidelines of a ‘Viksit Bharat-Yuva Connect’ event here.
“Some misleading information is being spread about the bill. These people are spreading lies that properties belonging to Muslims will be taken away by the government. No Hindu, Buddhist, Christian or Sikh is going to take away land. The objective of the bill is to set right the management of Waqf properties,” the union minister for parliamentary affairs asserted.
Answering a question, Rijiju said that several Muslim outfits have supported the bill as they feel Waqf properties must be used for work related to the community.
On AAP leader Atishi taking charge as Delhi chief minister but preferring to not sit on the chair occupied by Arvind Kejriwal when he was on the post, Rijiju said it does not matter since the Supreme Court has stopped the AAP national convener, recently released from jail on bail, from signing files.(PTI)
