Ten Opposition members of the joint parliamentary committee examining the controversial waqf amendment bill were suspended for a day after they resorted to uproarious protests on Friday, accusing the panel chairman of manipulating the proceedings to rush the bill.

The Opposition members alleged that the ruling BJP was looking to use the politically sensitive bill to polarise voters ahead of the February 5 Delhi Assembly polls.

A waqf property is an endowment made by a Muslim for a religious, educational or charitable cause, and cannot be taken over for other purposes. The bill aims to reduce the waqf boards’ power to designate properties as waqf property.

The JPC, headed by BJP member Jagdambika Pal, plans to present its report to Parliament in the first week of the budget session, which starts on January 31.

Sources said the Opposition members shouted aggressive slogans against the chairman and accused him of working under pressure from the government to rush the report on the bill without due scrutiny.

“The agenda of Friday’s meeting was suddenly changed last night. The members were informed close to midnight,” Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee, one of the suspended MPs, told reporters.

“What is happening in the meeting feels like an undeclared emergency. They are rushing the proceedings because of the Delhi elections.”

Pal has accused Banerjee of using abusive language against him and charged the Opposition members on the panel with deliberately disrupting proceedings.

“The agenda was changed to allow a delegation led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq from Jammu and Kashmir to express their concerns before the panel. (It was) the Opposition (that) had demanded (that) Jammu and Kashmir’s voice should be heard, but they started protesting,” Pal told reporters.

“The way the Opposition members came into the Well and started shouting showed it was all deliberate. Kalyan Banerjee targeted me using un-parliamentary and abusive language. They accuse us of ignoring the voice of Muslims but today they were disrupted when a delegation from J&K was due to give its views.”

According to the earlier agenda, the panel was to discuss the amendments to the bill clause by clause on Friday. But the Opposition members had in a letter to Pal opposed this, seeking time to present their views relating to the committee’s trips to Patna, Calcutta and Lucknow for consultations.

The committee had returned from the visits on January 21 and the Opposition wanted the next meeting to be scheduled for January 30 and 31. Pal, however, denied this request.

The Opposition members wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Friday, complaining against Pal’s “unilateral” and “unfair” manner of conducting the JPC’s meetings and seeking more time given the complexity and sensitivity of the amendments.

“It is therefore prayed that the Chairman of the JPC may kindly be instructed to conduct the proceedings in a transparent and fair manner,” the letter to Birla said.

“The Chairman should postpone the 27th meeting so that the Opposition members can get the adequate time and opportunity to put forth our plea/ claims without any departure from the rules and procedures….”

After the ruckus and suspensions, the Kashmir ulema, led by the chairman of the Hurriyat’s moderate faction, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, made a maiden appearance before the panel. The Mirwaiz opposed the bill.

The delegation presented a memorandum to Pal that said: “We believe that these amendments are completely against the interests of the Muslim community and also violate the universally accepted fundamental rights of communities.

“Waqf properties are personal properties dedicated by Muslims in the name of God for the benefit of their society and to help the underprivileged. Such Religio/ social institutions warrant least interference from the state. But the govt-proposed amendments represent a significant threat to the autonomy and functioning of this institution.”

The Mirwaiz told reporters the delegation had wanted the JPC to visit Kashmir. Since that did not happen, its members decided to personally carry the memorandum to the panel.