During his speech, Gogoi accused Minister Rijiju of making misleading statements about the bill and the role of previous governments. This remark prompted a reprimand from Speaker Om Birla. He also pointed out that the Minority Affairs Ministry had not mentioned the bill in any of the four meetings of its parliamentary committee in 2023, questioning the sudden urgency behind the amendments.According to Gogoi, the bill was not just about administrative changes but a deliberate effort to weaken constitutional protections for minorities. He alleged that the government had its sights set on one community’s land today but could target others in the future.”This is not about reforms; this is a calculated attempt to alter the electoral process and create divisions in society,” he stated, dismissing Rijiju’s argument that the bill aimed to modernize Waqf laws.He further accused the BJP of using the Waqf bill as a political smokescreen, citing recent incidents in BJP-ruled states where Muslims were allegedly not allowed to offer Eid prayers in public spaces.Gogoi also criticized the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) that was tasked with reviewing the Waqf amendments. He claimed that the committee, led by a BJP MP, routinely disregarded opposition members’ views. Over six months of meetings, 66 proposed changes were discussed—44 of which were suggested by the opposition and rejected outright, while 23 came from the BJP and its allies, of which 14 were accepted by the government in February.Describing the committee’s functioning as unprecedented, Gogoi said there was no clause-by-clause discussion, and many of the stakeholders invited to speak had no direct connection to Waqf boards. Opposition MPs were further angered when their dissent notes were excluded from the final report, only to be reinstated later after protests.”I have never seen a JPC operate in this manner before,” Gogoi stated, arguing that the process was unfair and lacked transparency.
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