Opposition MPs meet Speaker over JPC on Waqf Bill, say satisfied with Birla reply

The Opposition members said they will continue to attend the JPC meetings after the Speaker’s assurance. The MPs also submitted a joint memorandum signed by Congress’ Mohammad Jawed and Imran Masood, DMK’s Raja and and AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi, detailing their concerns. In the letter, the MPs accused Pal of fixing the dates of the sittings without consulting the members and not giving them reasonable pause to scrutinise the submissions made by the witnesses. They said they would “disassociate” themselves from the panel since they were being “stonewalled”. They also alleged that the chairman would ‘arbitrarily’ call meetings and invite people and organisations who are not stakeholders in this matter to present their views.The Opposition members said that the legal exercise done by the government through the Bill is a surreptitious attempt to mitigate the earlier legislations made by Parliament, which ensured the secular credentials of the Constitution.



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