NEW DELHI: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee slammed the Centre over the Waqf Amendment Bill, which was tabled on Wednesday morning, and said that the jumla party’s (BJP) only agenda is to divide the country.
While addressing the presser on Wednesday, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee claimed that the BJP believes in only divide and rule policy.
“The jumla party’s only one point agenda is to divide the country. They only believe in divide & rule policy which we don’t. First learn to respect the Constitution and than takeaway someone’s rights,” Banerjee said in the presser.
This remark came as Union minority affairs minister Kiren Rijiju tabled the Waqf Amendment Bill today as proposed by a Joint Parliamentary Committee, in the Lower House for consideration and passage.
Waqf refers to assets set aside solely for religious or charitable purposes under Islamic law, with any other use or sale of the property being forbidden.
In the Lok Sabha, the opposition slammed the Centre over Waqf Amendment Bill, stating that this is an “unconstitutional.” Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said, “The minister said it [the Bill] is ‘umeed’ (hope). In [the statements made in] both Hindi and English, I could not understand how this Bill became a hope.”
He was referring to government’s move to rename Waqf Bill to Unified Waqf Management Empowerment, Efficiency and Development Bill, or in short, UMEED Bill.”There a competition within the BJP right now, to find out who is the worse Hindu. I am not saying this jut like that. The party which claims that it the biggest party has not been able to chose its own national president yet,” Akhilesh said that led to some NDA MPs raising objection.
Meanwhile, Union home minister Amit Shah targeted the Congress for allegedly spreading misinformation on the Waqf Amendment Bill and assured that the legislation does not seek to interfere in Muslims’ religious matters.
“That the Waqf bill is interference in Muslims’ religious matters and properties donated by them is fear-mongering for vote-bank,” he said, as he participated in the debate on the legislation in the Lok Sabha.
