Jammu and Kashmir’s key political rivals – the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the National Conference (NC) – have decided to knock on the Supreme Court’s doors over the Waqf Act. Under fire from the opposition for rolling out a "red carpet welcome" to Union Minister Kiren Rijiju, who moved the Waqf Amendment Bill in parliament, the NC said on Wednesday it would approach the top court. "We believe that this amendment is against Muslims. Whatever opposition we had to do, we tried to do it in the last three days," its chief spokesman Tanvir Sadiq said, accompanied by several legislators. "Now, we will take this fight forward. On the directions of our president Farooq Abdullah sahib, NC will submit a petition in the Supreme Court. We will fight this fight there now,” he said. The announcement came barely an hour after PDP president Mehbooba Mufti announced that her party will challenge the Waqf Act in the apex court while taking on the NC for not allowing a discussion in the House. "In a coming day or two, we will challenge the amendment brought to the Waqf Bill in the Supreme Court," she said. She said the "red carpet welcome" given by NC’s Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah to Rijiju sent a wrong message to Indian Muslims. "What we saw in Tulip garden is shameful. By welcoming the minister, jointly by Farooq sahib and Omar sahib, they have sent a message that they are with and not against what happened in the Parliament," Mufti said. "This is a wrong message for the Muslims of India, who are already battered.” She said while the "drama" created by the National Conference legislators in the assembly was to "divert the attention from the welcome they accorded to Rijiju", it was also aimed to prevent the passage of three key bills. "LG sahib has cleared three bills – on regularisation of daily wagers, on giving land rights to the people and a on a ban on alcohol," she said. "They did it (stalled the assembly) to escape from these three bills, to divert attention from them.” The National Conference has been under fire from the opposition after Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather disallowed an adjournment motion from the NC and opposition legislators demanding a discussion on the Waqf Act. The Speaker had called the matter sub-judice, a contention rejected by the opposition, which called it a deliberate tactic from the NC and its Speaker to stall the House proceedings.
