Waqf Amendment Bill 2025- The Waqf Amendment Bill was presented in the Rajya Sabha amid intense protests from opposition parties, which eventually resulted in a walkout by opposition MPs.
The joint parliament committee’s report on the Waqf Amendment Bill 2025 was presented in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, triggering a protest by opposition parties that culminated in a walkout.
The session was briefly adjourned due to the commotion caused by the opposition.
BJP member Medha Vishram Kulkarni, who serves on the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Waqf Amendment Bill 2025, tabled the report.
Opposition MPs, led by Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, accused the committee of removing dissenting notes from the report—a claim later refuted by Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju.
The uproar persisted as Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar attempted to read a message from President Droupadi Murmu.
Vice President Dhankhar cautioned the opposition, saying, “Don’t show disrespect to the President of India,” and urged Mallikarjun Kharge to ask the protesting members to return to their seats.
Despite his appeal, the commotion continued, prompting the adjournment of the Upper House until 11:20 a.m.
When the session resumed, the Chairman read out the President’s message, which acknowledged the Rajya Sabha members’ expression of thanks for her address during the joint sitting of Parliament on January 31.
However, as the Chairman attempted to move on to the Zero Hour, opposition members resumed their protests, with some MPs entering the well of the House.
Leader of the House JP Nadda expressed regret over the disorder in the Rajya Sabha during the reading of the President’s message.
Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar named Samirul Islam, Nadimul Haque, and M. Mohamed Abdulla as those responsible for the chaos and disruption in the House.
Following this, Mallikarjun Kharge was given the floor to speak.
The Congress chief alleged that the dissent notes submitted by opposition MPs regarding the Waqf Bill report had been removed.
“The report of the joint parliamentary committee on Waqf, which included dissent notes from several members, has been altered. Forcing the report through by only retaining the views of the majority is unacceptable. It is condemnable and goes against democratic principles,” Kharge stated.
Describing it as a “fake report,” Kharge demanded that the report be withdrawn and sent back to the committee for reconsideration.
He emphasized that the MPs were not protesting for personal reasons but in response to the injustice being inflicted on a community.
“This is not about any individual. These MPs are not protesting for their own sake; they are standing up for a community facing injustice,” Kharge said.
DMK leader Tiruchi Siva and AAP’s Sanjay Singh also voiced their objections regarding the alleged removal of dissent notes from the report.
What are new in the Waqf Amendment bill 2025
JPC Chairman Jagdambika Pal said that there are 44 amendments in the new Waqf Amendment Bill 2025 and all 44 amendments were discussed in this final meeting of the JPC. Out of these, 14 suggestions of NDA MPs have been approved. Opposition members also made some proposals, but these were rejected during voting.
Now more non-muslim members in waqf council/board:
Now two members in the committee can be from Hindu or any other religion. Also, one more officer of the state government will be included in it. The Chairperson of Waqf will be excluded from the count of non-Muslim members.
Members in waqf tribunal will increase– Waqf Amendment Bill 2025
Now Waqf Tribunal will have three members instead of two. The third person will be an Islamic scholar. Earlier there was a provision of only two members in the tribunal.
No Impact on already registered property– Waqf Amendment Bill 2025
If a property is already registered, then the amended Waqf law will not be applicable on it. However, Congress MP Imran Masood objected to this. He said that according to an estimate, 90 percent of Waqf properties are not actually registered.
Apart from this, the powers of Waqf will be removed from the Collector and will now be in the hands of an officer appointed by the state government. In the earlier provision, the Collector was authorized to survey the Waqf property. But now any officer appointed by the state government will oversee and monitor the Waqf property.
The Waqf Act 1995, made to regularize Waqf properties, has been criticized for issues like mis-management, corruption and encroachment.
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