West Bengal Waqf board opposes Centre’s amendment Bill

A protest rally against Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024, in Kolkata, on November 19, 2024.
| Photo Credit: PTI

West Bengal waqf board said it did not agree with the Waqf amendment Bill brought by the Modi government. The board has sent its comments and objections about the Bill to the West Bengal Minority Affairs department.

Chairman of the West Bengal Waqf Board, Justice (retired) Sahidullah Munshi, said, “Amendment Bills can be brought forward, there is no wrong in that. Any government can do that. But if a Bill has problems, that needs criticism. But our clear message is that before they brought the Bill they should have spoken to all stakeholders.” He said that now the government was sitting down with stakeholders and conducting meetings. This step should have been taken before to avoid problems.

Justice Munshi said, “We have outrightly refused to accept the amendment Bill. This is against the interests of the board and the community as a whole. The entire Bill may not be very bad, but most of the provisions are bad. If it becomes law, we will take other measures to challenge it. We have submitted an elaborate complaint about it.”

Answering a question about viral social media rumours about the Raj Bhavan’s land (Governor’s residence) being owned by the Waqf board, he said, “We can take steps only if there is a formal complaint. As per our knowledge there is no such proof.”

Meanwhile, an identification card system has been started at the Waqf board office to curb malpractices. While speaking to The Hindu, Chief Executive Officer Ahsan Ali said, “In the past we have received complaints of unauthorised people taking advantage of unsuspecting people and extorting money out of them to get work done and malign our good name. We do not want people to fall into this trap. All our employees will be identifiable from now on to keep the process transparent.”

Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee had said on November 7 that Opposition members of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) would boycott the next round of meeting set to begin on November 9. He alleged “high-handedness” of JPC chairman Jagdambika Pal. He said, “From the beginning, our JPC chairman has been working whimsically and arbitrarily. He is bulldozing the Opposition and not listening to any Opposition members.”