Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on March 28 that the Waqf (Amendment) Bill will be reintroduced in the ongoing Budget session of Parliament. The session in its second leg ends on April 4 with only four business days left.
The contentious Bill was referred to a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) in August 2024. The panel’s 655-page report was submitted to both Houses of Parliament earlier this month amid protests by opposition and Muslim groups.
“We will introduce the Waqf Bill in Parliament within this session,” Shah said at the “Times Now Summit 2025”.
Shah said no one should be afraid of the proposed legislation as the Narendra Modi government is amending the Waqf Act in accordance with the ambit of the Constitution. “The opposition is misleading Muslims. No rights of Muslims will be curbed. They are just telling lies after lies,” he said.
The Congress party has been opposing the Waqf Bill. Party MP Mohammad Jawed on Friday launched a scathing attack on the BJP-led Union government over the Bill, alleging it was taking the country gradually towards civil war.
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, who has been one of the most vocal voices against the Bill, accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday with “firing bullets at our chest through the Waqf Bill by targeting our mosques and dargahs.”
The last Friday prayers of Ramadan 2025 saw Muslims wearing black armbands as a mark of protest against the bill. The call for protest was given by the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) – the apex pan India body of Muslim clerics.
Shah, however, said at the TV summit the government had to bring the amendment bill to the existing law as the original legislation was enacted due to the politics of appeasement. He claimed that the Congress had made rules in the Waqf Act that were not in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution.
“We have aligned the Waqf Bill within the ambit of the Constitution, while the Congress had twisted the law for its political advantage,” he said.
‘Bill can be challenged in the court’
On the protests against the Bill, the home minister said everyone has a right to protest and any dispute can be challenged in courts. “They are free to protest. If the Bill is not within the ambit of the Constitution, it can be challenged in courts,” he said.
The Union Cabinet, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the proposed amendments to the Waqf (Amendment) Bill after incorporating changes recommended by the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC). The approval paves the way for the bill to be tabled in Parliament in the second half of the budget session that began on March 10.
The Union Cabinet, it is learnt, has incorporated most of the changes recommended JPC headed by BJP leader Jagdambika Pal. The panel cleared the bill on January 27, adopting all 14 changes proposed by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP)-led NDA members.
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