TMC MP breaks bottle during Waqf panel meet, suspended
On Tuesday, the JPC was hearing depositions from Cuttack-based Justice in Reality, and Panchasakha Bani Prachar Mandali, a right-wing organisation. Both entities supported the Bill.
New Delhi The joint parliamentary committee (JPC) meeting on the Waqf Amendment Bill witnessed high drama on Tuesday after Trinamool Congress (TMC) Lok Sabha member Kalyan Banerjee broke a glass bottle and hurt himself during a heated argument with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Abhijit Gangopadhyay, said people aware of the matter.
Banerjee was later suspended for one day and two meetings of the JPC after BJP member Nishikant Dubey moved a motion, which was backed by nine votes and opposed by eight others.
The order to suspend Banerjee was approved by JPC chairperson and BJP Lok Sabha member Jagdambika Pal.
Banerjee was suspended for “uttering wrong words against the chairperson and gesturing to throw the broken bottle towards the chairperson”, Dubey said in a statement.
On Tuesday, the JPC was hearing depositions from Cuttack-based Justice in Reality, and Panchasakha Bani Prachar Mandali, a right-wing organisation. Both entities supported the Bill.
According to a person aware of the matter, Banerjee intervenedas BJP Rajya Sabha MP Brij Lal and Congress Rajya Sabha MP Dr Syed Naseer Hussain were having a discussion about registration of Waqf properties.
Following Banerjee’s repeated interruptions, Gangopadhyay also intervened, leading to a furious argument between the two, people cited above said. Pal tried to mediate the argument.
At least three people cited above said that Banerjee and Gangopadhyay frequently argue during the committee meeting.
During the general elections, the Election Commission of India had “strongly censured” the former Calcutta High Court judge Gangopadhyay and barred him from campaigning for 24 hours over his “abominable” remarks against West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
People aware of the matter said that Banerjee hit the glass water bottle against the table, breaking it in the process and cutting his hand. However, some BJP members said that Banerjee threw the broken bottle towards the chairperson, while members of the Opposition said that Banerjee shook his hand in pain because of which the bottle flew towards the chairperson.
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen member Asaduddin Owaisi and Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh were seen accompanying Banerjee out of the meeting room, with the TMC MP’s right thumb and little finger bandaged.
Proceedings of the meeting resumed soon after he got medical attention.
Some of the people cited above said Banerjee apologised to the chair multiple times after the meeting resumed, maintaining that he did not intentionally throw the bottle in the chairperson’s direction.
Dubey moved a motion to get Banerjee suspended under Rule 374 (suspension of a member) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha, and his motion was supported by eight others, excluding the chair.
In turn, Banerjee tried to move a motion against Gangopadhyay for his language. BJP MPs, in response said that they could move a third motion in the meeting, the second against Banerjee for his language. Eventually, a few members deascalated the situation and only the first motion against Banerjee was actually presented, voted upon, and passed, three people said.
The JPC then heard the views of five parliamentarians from the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), who opposed the Bill.
Talking to the media after Tuesday’s contentious meeting, Pal said: “The way he [Banerjee] tried to hit me by throwing the bottle in my direction --- it is only because of God’s grace that I was safe ---, the way he abused me, I will just say that there is no space for such violence in a parliamentary democracy.”
He added: “Today’s incident raises questions about the kind of behaviour that voters expect from a parliamentarian in parliamentary democracy.”
The JPC meetings on the contentious bill have been dogged by disruptions. Last week, several opposition members walked out on October 14, alleging that personal allegations made against the Karnataka government and Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge were allowed by Pal in contravention of norms.
The 31-member JPC is expected to submit its report in the first week of the next session.
The bill, introduced by the government in the previous session, seeks to bring changes to the powers of state waqf boards, survey of waqf properties and removal of encroachments by amending the Waqf Act, 1995. A waqf is a Muslim religious endowment, usually in the form of landed property, made for purposes of charity and community welfare.
The draft bill proposes sweeping changes in the regulation and governance of India’s waqf boards, that manage Islamic charitable endowments. The government argues that the bill would modernise an archaic and complex system in line with recommendations of the 2006 Rajender Sachar Committee.
The draft bill reworks the definition of waqf to ensure that only lawful property owners practising Islam for at least five years can create waqf through formal deeds.
The role of surveying waqf properties, handled by survey commissioners under the 1995 act, is now to be entrusted to district collectors or officers of equivalent rank.
The most controversial provision is a proposal to induct non-Muslims in the central waqf council, state waqf boards and waqf tribunals, calling for such bodies to become “more broad-based”, with representation of Shia, Sunni, Bohra, Agakhani, and other Muslim sects, along with non-Muslims.
The government argues the bill modernises norms and brings in uniformity but the Opposition has called it an attempt to infringe on religious rights and the Constitution.