Several opposition MPs on Monday boycotted a meeting of the parliamentary committee examining the Waqf (Amendment) Bill alleging that the panel is not functioning in accordance with rules, after Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge was accused by a deposer of being involved in Waqf land scams.
The lengthy meetings of the Joint Committee of Parliament have been marked by the exchange of heated words between its BJP and opposition members, and things turned especially stormy on Monday as the latter questioned the rationale behind calling members of Hindu groups for deposition on a law concerning Muslims.
The opposition MPs walked out in protest against the submission of Anwar Manippady, a former chairman of the Karnataka State Minorities Commission and the Karnataka Minorities Development Corporation. He is also a former Karnataka BJP vice-president.
Manippady named several Congress leaders from Karnataka, including Kharge and Rehman Khan, and others for their alleged involvement in embezzling Waqf properties.
The opposition MPs cited rules regulating the parliamentary committees' proceedings to claim that "unproven allegations" against "high dignitaries" cannot be made at the meetings of these panels. Manippady, they said, also made an appeal to Muslims not to oppose the Bill, which too was out of line.
An opposition MP said allegations cannot be levelled against someone who is not there to defend himself.
The chairperson of the committee, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Jagdambika Pal, however, overruled their objections and allowed the deposition to continue.
Shiv Sena MP Naresh Mhaske said the meeting continued after the walkout by the opposition members and representatives of Hindu organisations made their presentations before the committee.
"The opposition members should have the patience to listen to views and opinions that are different from theirs. The committee patiently listened to the views of different public representatives and others during its visit to Bengaluru earlier this month," Mhaske said.
A BJP member said Manippady's deposition was relevant to the Bill as his claims pertained to Waqf properties.
Opposition MPs, including Gaurav Gogoi and Imran Masood of the Congress, A Raja of the DMK, Arvind Sawant of the Shiv Sena (UBT), AIMIM's Asaduddin Owaisi, Samajwadi Party's Mohibbullah and Sanjay Singh of the Aam Aadmi Party, stormed out of the meeting and expressed strong sentiments against its proceedings.
The committee is not functioning in accordance with rules and regulations, Sawant told reporters.
The opposition members held a separate meeting later to decide their next course of action. They are expected to write to the Lok Sabha speaker on Tuesday over the panel's functioning.
The committee had called several organisations and activists associated with Hindu causes for deposition, a move that drew protest from the opposition members. They raised objections to Hindu organisations being called to express their views, contending that they have no say in Waqf issues, which concern Muslims.
Sources in the ruling BJP, however, said these organisations and activists have been raising the issue of how the Waqf law impacts non-Muslim properties, including those belonging to temples. They must have a say when the committee has decided to hold such an extensive consultation, they added.
The sources said Owaisi has written to Pal over the invitation sent to Sanatan Sanstha and Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, alleging that these organisations follow extremist ideologies. These organisations' stated goal is to install a "Hindu rashtra" and they have openly "pursued violent means and made calls for insurrectionary activities against the Union of India", the Hyderabad MP has alleged in his letter to Pal, the sources added.
Others called for deposition by the committee included lawyers Vishnu Shankar Jain and Ashwini Upadhyay and "Mahant" Sudhirdas Maharaj of the Kalaram temple in Maharashtra's Nashik.
Mehmood Madani of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind also appeared before the committee. His organisation has been opposed to the proposed amendments in the Waqf Bill.