Kolkata, Nov 30 (PTI) The TMC Minority Cell held a rally in Kolkata on Sunday to protest the Waqf Amendment Bill, which its leaders alleged was aimed at seizing properties of Muslims.
Addressing the rally, TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee claimed that the BJP-led government at the Centre does not respect the Constitution as it was moving forward on the matter without any discussion with the states.
Banerjee, who is a member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Waqf Amendment Bill, alleged that the federal structure of the country was under threat because of this "authoritarian" attitude of the BJP.
"The Preamble of the Constitution is the eye of the nation. The BJP government is not following the ideals of the Preamble," he said.
Among the other speakers at the rally, held in Rani Rashmoni Road, were state Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim and Murarai MLA Mosarraf Hossain.
Hossain claimed that the Waqf Amendment Bill was part of a conspiracy to seize the properties of Muslims, and polarising the society for narrow political gains.
"Today's meeting testifies that the BJP will not succeed in its gameplan," he said.
The Centre had listed the Waqf Amendment Bill, 2024, in its legislative agenda for the Winter Session of Parliament pending a report from the parliamentary panel.
The bill seeks to amend the Waqf Act, 1995 to ensure more accountability and transparency in the functioning of Waqf Boards and also has provisions for mandatory inclusion of women in these bodies.
The bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on August 8 and referred for examination to the JPC constituted under the chairmanship of Lok Sabha MP Jagdambika Pal.
Earlier this week, opposition members in the JCP met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla seeking an extension of the tenure of the panel by a "reasonable time" to allow substantive deliberations on the expansive legislation. PTI SUS SOM
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