Bihar Minister and JD(U) leader supports Centre’s decision to refer Waqf Bill to JPC

Patna, Aug 9 (PTI) A key aide of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday welcomed the Centre’s decision to send the Waqf Amendment Bill 2024 to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for scrutiny, emphasising that the "apprehensions of the minority community about the Bill must be addressed." Talking to reporters here, Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, a senior minister in Nitish Kumar’s cabinet and JD(U) leader, said, "From the outset, there were significant apprehensions about the Bill within the minority community. Their concerns must be thoroughly addressed before it is finalised. The JD(U) welcomes the central government’s decision to send the Waqf Amendment Bill 2024 to the JPC for scrutiny." He added, "Our leader, Nitish Kumar Ji, believes that issues concerning minority communities must be handled with utmost sensitivity." Chaudhary, Bihar's Parliamentary Affairs Minister, is considered one of the most trusted colleagues of the JD(U) supremo, having been a member of the Assembly since 1982.

The Waqf (Amendment) Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha on Thursday and referred to a joint parliamentary panel after a heated debate, with the government asserting the proposed law did not intend to interfere with the functioning of mosques and the opposition calling it targeting of Muslims and an attack on the Constitution Asked about the support of senior JD(U) MP and Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh for the Bill in its current form, Chaudhary declined to comment directly, reiterating, "I will once again emphasise that the apprehensions of the minority community about the Bill must be addressed before it is finalised." During a discussion in the Lok Sabha, Singh had said, "The Bill is not about a mosque or temple but aims to bring transparency to an institution. How is it against Muslims? This law is intended to promote transparency." Following intense criticism from opposition parties, Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju proposed sending the Bill to a JPC. PTI PKD MNB