JD-U among NDA allies back Waqf Amendment Bill, say not anti-Muslim

National Democratic Alliance allies Janta Dal-United, Telugu Desam Party, Shiv Sena and the Lok Janshakti Party backed the Waqf (Amendment) Bill that was introduced in Lok Sabha on Thursday, saying it was aimed at bringing transparency in the functioning of the Waqf Board and was not an attempt to interfere with the running of mosques.

The TDP and the LJP also supported the Bill being sent to a parliamentary committee for further examination.

Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju introduced the Waqf (Amendment) Bill and proposed sending it to a joint parliamentary committee after the Opposition parties objected to its provisions.

Speaking in Lok Sabha as the government moved for introducing the Bill, Janata Dal-United leader and Union minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh 'Lalan' asserted that the Bill was not anti-Muslim.

Defending the Bill, he said, "Several members are making it sound as if the amendment in the Waqf Board law is anti-Muslim. How is it anti-Muslim? Here is an example of Ayodhya is being given... Can you not differentiate between a temple and an institution?"

"This is not an attempt to interfere with mosques. This law is for the institution, to make it transparent... How was the Waqf Board formed?" he said, and himself replied that it was through a law," he said.

The minister said if any institution established through law becomes autocratic, the government has the right to bring a law to ensure transparency, he said.

Slamming the Opposition parties, he said, "There is no communal divide. They are spreading rumours."

Taking a jibe at the Congress over the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, he asked, "Who killed thousands of Sikhs?"

"The Bill should come and transparency should be brought," he said.

Telugu Desam Party MP GM Harish Balayogi said his party will not mind if the Bill is sent to a parliamentary panel.

"I appreciate the concern with which the government has brought this Bill. The purpose of the donors need to be protected. When the purpose and power get misused, it is the responsibility of the government to bring reforms and introduce transparency in the system," he said.

The TDP MP said there is a requirement for the government to regulate and streamline the purpose.

"The Bill has been brought and we support it... We believe that the registration is going to help poor Muslims and women of the country, and bring transparency," the TDP MP said, adding his party will not mind if the Bill is sent to a panel of Parliament for further consultation.

"If wider consultations are required to remove misconceptions and to educate the purpose of the Bill, we have no problem sending it to the select committee," he said.

Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Eknath Shinde also supported the Bill.

"Some people are only politicising this Bill. There is only one intention behind this Bill -- to bring transparency and accountability," he said.

He accused the opposition of spreading misinformation on the Bill.

"When their government was in power, they put administrators in temples like Shirdi. They did not remember federalism at that time. They have pushed Muslim women back," he said in Lok Sabha.

Lok Janshakti Party-Ram Vilas MP Shambhavi Choudhary spoke on similar lines and supported the Bill.

"The founder of our party Ram Vilas Paswan ji always supported Muslims. In 2004, he wanted a Muslim to become the prime Minister. We support this Bill, but if some people want wider consultations, we have no objection if it goes to a committee," Choudhary told reporters outside Parliament.

"This is not an anti-Muslim Bill. It is bringing equality in the representation of the minorities by including groups like Bohra Muslims, Ahmadiyya and women who will also get representation," the LJP MP said.

The Bill to amend the law governing waqf boards proposes far-reaching changes in the Wakf Act, 1995, including ensuring the representation of Muslim women and non-Muslims in such bodies.

The Waqf (Amendment) Bill also aims at renaming the Act as the Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development Act, 1995.