The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, held a hearing here on Saturday amidst a tour boycott by opposition members of the panel.

The committee held discussions with state government representatives, local waqf boards and other organisations from Assam and other North Eastern states during the day-long visit.

"We are holding talks with stakeholders. We have been to Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore. We are talking with minority commissions, Muslim organisations, lawyers, all stakeholders," JPC chairperson Jagatambika Pal said.

"It helps with our report. We collect what are people's opinions on the existing Act and the new bill. No one should do politics over it. The report will be based on people's opinion," he said, when asked about opposition parties refusing to be part of this ongoing tour.

From Guwahati, the panel will leave for Bhubaneswar, and then visit Kolkata, Patna and Lucknow during this tour, Pal added.

Opposition members of the JPC had decided to boycott this tour, alleging that the chairperson was acting in an arbitrary manner and their request to defer the trip was unheeded.

JPC member Aparajita Sarangi, talking to reporters here, termed the opposition parties decision not to accompanying them as "unfortunate".

"It is extremely unfortunate that members of opposition parties belonging to the Committee have chosen not to come on the study tour, not to come to Guwahati, not to join the hearing of the JPC in other states where we are going to," she said.

"It is a five-day tour and we want to listen to all sides who want to present their views regarding the Bill. The Opposition suddenly decided not to join and some of them went to the extent of holding press conference and alleged that the chairperson (Pal) has been undemocratic," she added.

Refuting the charge against Pal, Sarangi said 25 meetings of the JPC have been held since it was formed by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on August nine this year, with each meeting going on for not less than four hours.

About 47 organisations have been heard so far and officials of six ministries have deposed, with suggestions and views both for and against the Bill coming forth, she maintained.

"We have received some very good suggestions. We have now moved to different states to ensure that we can reach out to as many people, organisations as possible," the BJP MP said.

The chairperson has given ample opportunity to all 31 members of the JPC also to place their views, Sarangi claimed, adding that over 95 lakh petitions have been received by the Ministry of Minority Affairs regarding the Bill and all these will be examined by the panel.

Calling the boycott of the tour as "completely politically motivated", she said, "This is not the time to demonstrate such behaviour. They should have come, asked questions and get their answers. That would have been a constructive approach." "We want a situation where the waqf boards function well. Government of India is doing this with the best of intentions," Sarangi said, adding that government and other representatives of states like Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura, attended the hearing here.

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