Opposition members walk out of Waqf panel meet, protests ‘altered’ report, rejoin later

New Delhi: Opposition members on the parliamentary joint committee for the Waqf (Amendment) Bill staged another walkout on Monday, alleging that individuals “with no direct connection to the bill” were being called to provide oral evidence before the panel. Key opposition figures, including All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader Asaduddin Owaisi, Congress MP Mohammad Jawed, and Samajwadi Party’s Mohibbullah Nadvi, participated in the walkout. Sources indicate that the members eventually returned to the meeting after a brief absence. Tensions flared during the session when the Delhi Waqf Board administrator submitted a report to the committee chair, sparking backlash from opposition members who claimed the report lacked clearance from the Delhi government. Following this, a letter from Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal addressed to committee chair Jagdambika Pal asserted that the report should be considered “null and void” due to the absence of official approval.

This meeting marked the panel’s first since Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Kalyan Banerjee was suspended from the committee for a day following an incident where he allegedly smashed a glass bottle amid a heated exchange with BJP member and former Calcutta High Court Judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay. Committee chair Jagdambika Pal later alleged that Banerjee attempted “to target the Chair” with the bottle, prompting BJP members to demand criminal action and a suspension of Banerjee from parliamentary proceedings. Banerjee was not present at Monday’s meeting. During the session, oral evidence was presented by representatives from the Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, and Uttarakhand Waqf Boards. In the later part of the day, the committee heard from former high court and Supreme Court lawyers, members of the group ‘Call for Justice,’ and the Waqf Tenant Welfare Association from Delhi. In recent weeks, the Waqf panel has witnessed multiple walkouts by opposition MPs. On October 14, several members exited a meeting after a former Karnataka State Minorities Commission office-bearer, who is affiliated with the BJP, reportedly made remarks involving Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Waqf land allocation.