Amid faultlines, Waqf Bill may come later rather than sooner

“There is a view that the government could wait for some more time,” said a senior BJP leader. And that there was a case for deferring the Bill until after the elections in Bihar later this year.

When contacted, ally JD(U) MP Kaushalendra Kumar claimed the Bill wasn’t a factor in the election. “The government says the Bill is good for Muslim community. We have to see the Bill anyway. I do not think the passage of the bill, before or after, would make any difference to the NDA in the Bihar election,” he said.

Still, there are some who feel the Bill can be reintroduced in this session but the voting and passage can be taken up later.

When contacted, Opposition leaders said the delay, if it happens, is mere opportunistic and does little to address their substantive suggestions in the Parliamentary committee. The Bill, introduced by Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju in August last year, was referred to a 31-member committee.

Samajwadi Party MP Javed Ali Khan said the government may defer the re-introduction of the Bill factoring in the elections. “(Chief Minister and BJP ally JD-U leader) Nitish Kumar has a certain image among Muslims there. I think the BJP is unlikely to bring the Waqf Bill this session but will do that ahead of elections in West Bengal and Assam, where it can benefit from the communal polarisation,” Khan told The Indian Express.

Assembly elections in West Bengal, Assam along with Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, are due next year.

IUML MP Haris Beeran said that deferring the Bill’s package means little. “The government has not incorporated any suggestions made by the Opposition parties and has not made it clear why. (A delay) makes sense only if the government expresses the willingness to discuss and consider the suggestions made by the stakeholders,” Beeran said.

Asaduddin Owaisi, AIMIM MP and a member of the committee, said the objections raised by Muslim organisations and the Opposition were because its provisions were unconstitutional.

“Our opposition is not because of any forthcoming elections but it is because the bill is unconstitutional as it violates Article 14 ,15, 26 and 29. One must remember the principal act in 1995 and the amendments in 2013 were passed unanimously by Parliament, even with the support of the BJP, then the principal opposition. We are just saying the Waqf board is like any other religious or charitable body like Hindu Endowment Board, Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee or a Christian charity organization.  The members of all these bodies belong to the respective religion only. But they want non-Muslims in the Waqf board. None of the amendments is in the interests of the Muslim community,” Owaisi said.

The Bill that amends the Waqf Act of 1995 proposed sweeping changes which give the government a foot in the door in regulating waqf properties and settling disputes regarding such properties. On January 27, the House committee headed by BJP MP Jagadambika Pal cleared 14 amendments proposed by the BJP and its allies, while rejecting 44 amendments proposed by the Opposition. The Union Cabinet cleared the fresh bill last month.

On Friday, addressing the Times Now Summit, Shah said the Bill will be reintroduced in this session. This is scheduled to end April 4, leaving just four days — Monday is a holiday on the occasion of Eid.

Shah said that no one should be afraid of the Waqf bill and that the BJP government is amending the law in accordance with provisions in the Constitution.