UNION Minister for Minority and Parliamentary Affairs Mr. Kiren Rijiju has done well to nail the lies of some vested interests opposed to the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024 that is about to be tabled in Parliament by the Narendra Modi Government. Mr. Rijiju blasted those elements who have insisted that the proposed amendment Bill was unconstitutional, and narrated how the long history of the Bill, including its various amendments, in India for over a hundred years. As the Minister for Minority Affairs, he then insisted that minorities in India have every reason to be happy on all counts -- provided they refuse to fall prey to falsehood dished out to them by vested interests that included some political parties with disruptive agendas.

 

And, as the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, he invited the Opposition to join the debate on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024 for whatever length of time they wished on the floor of the House. ‘Be part of the democratic process, and try to bring into the proposed Bill whatever changes you feel necessary. The Bill is every inch constitutional, and the debate on its provisions would be most welcome’, Mr. Kiren Rijiju added in effect. Mr. Kiren Rijiju’s argument was impeccable in form and content as he went on putting forward the Government’s view on the issue and asked simple but straightforward questions that the Opposition just cannot answer without being cantankerous. And of course, the Opposition knows this very well. That is the reason why it has adopted a cantankerous stand that blocks healthy and accommodative discourse on issues. But what Mr. Rijiju achieved in his media briefing was remarkable. He established a clear premium for the Government stand over the Opposition’s approach. As the minister elaborated on the issue, he raised the point of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill -- CAA.

 

He said, a hue and cry was raised that Muslims would lose their citizenship once the CAA came into effect. ‘But show me one example to prove that a Muslim has lost his or her citizenship on account of CAA that was brought into effect over a year ago?’, Mr. Rijiju asked. Similar would be the case of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024, he insisted. There is nothing unconstitutional about the Bill and the Government has been following every constitutional and legal norm to think of amendment of the Waqf law since the current one has ample provisions to be unjust and unreasonably loaded against non-Muslim communities and their places of worship and faith. ‘Join the debate, prove your point (whatever that may be) and make a correction in the current law so that it becomes acceptable by all norms’, Mr. Kiren Rijiju said. In fact, the Opposition appears to have lost a lot of moral ground on the issue as the Government and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party have continued with its patient approach to explain to the larger society what the actual contents of the proposed Bill are.

 

That is exactly why the Opposition and some other elements are engaged in inciting Muslim sentiments by spreading lots of lies and making false accusations. One of the most popular accusations was that mosques etc would be taken over by the Government once the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024 became law. Mr. Rijiju blasted that propaganda effectively by explaining every detail -- and leaving the Opposition with no ground to sand upon and oppose the proposed Bill. The Opposition must underastand the truth of the matter and stop standing in the way of the new Bill’s passage. For, once a correct law is in place, the scope for wrong actions would be erased. That is essential today when the atmosphere is fraught with much communal misunderstanding.