Page 5 - The Indian EYE 042525

COVER STORY APRIL 25, 2025 | The Indian Eye 5

and suggestions. Amendment Act, Haryana Chief
“Government is answerable to Minister Saini defended the legisla-
the people. The government received tion, stating that the amended Act is
lakhs of representations. Villages are designed to benefit the entire Muslim
taken as Waqf, and many lands are community.
claimed as Waqf. It is a considered In a related development, the
piece of legislation,” Mehta said. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA)
He added that staying the Act on Thursday said that the Waqf
would be a “harsh step” and request- (Amendment) Act is an internal
ed a week to file a preliminary reply matter of India and stressed that
along with relevant documents be- the amendments aim to make the
fore the court. “This is not a matter law more progressive and inclusive,
that can be considered lightly,” he focusing on benefiting the intended
said. beneficiaries.
In response, Chief Justice Khan- Addressing the weekly press
na noted that the bench had already briefing, MEA spokesperson Rand-
identified some positive aspects of hir Jaiswal said, “All the elements of
the law but expressed concern over the Waqf bill are an internal matter
changing the status quo drastically, Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel conduct a route march in the violence hit area which broke of India. And you know that the Waqf
which could affect the rights of the out during a protest against the Waqf (Amendment) Act 2025, in Murshidabad on Thursday (ANI) Amendment bill proposes several in-
parties involved. clusive policies to make the Amend-
The bench also segregated cas- ment bill more inclusive, more pro-
es filed by Hindu parties challeng- the Congress Party. Referring to the preliminary observation, it may not gressive, and so that there are greater
ing earlier Waqf laws of 1995 and ongoing legal proceedings and re- be a final judgment but through the benefits to the intended beneficia-
2013 and changed the cause title of marks made by the top court, Venu- preliminary observation clearly stat- ries.”
the case to “In Re: Waqf Amend- gopal said, “The stand taken by the ed that the concern raised by the In the middle of all this, violence
ment Act.” INDI alliance and especially Con- parliamentarians of IND alliance was continues in the state of West Bengal.
Former Law Minister Ashwani gress Party has been totally justified relevant. In that way, this is a success Kolkata Police Commissioner
Kumar reacted to the Supreme by the preliminary observation of the for IND alliance.” Manoj Kumar Verma on Thursday
Court’s interim order regarding the Supreme Court.” But Haryana Chief Minister confirmed that the situation in Bhan-
Waqf (Amendment) Act, calling it He added that the concerns Nayab Singh Saini on Friday crit- gar, where violence broke out ear-
a “normal procedure” adopted by raised by opposition parties during icized the previous Congress-led lier this week over protests against
the court while hearing important the debate on the Waqf Bill were UPA government for introducing the the Waqf (Amendment) Act, is now
matters. related to violations of the Constitu- original Waqf bill in haste for ‘vote under control, with 19 individuals ar-
Kumar said, “This is a normal tion. “The speakers of INDI alliance bank politics’ during 2013-2014 and rested in connection with the unrest.
procedure that the court, hearing an during the debate on the Waqf Bill claimed that it lacked provisions that He added that many senior po-
important matter, adopts. This only clearly emphasized the violation of truly served the interests of Muslims. lice officials had visited the area to-
shows that the Supreme Court, at a Article 26. Through this bill, the gov- Saini alleged that the Congress day to review the situation.
later date, after seven days or after ernment doesn’t listen to that voice,” brought the bill for vote bank poli- Congress MP Pramod Tiwari on
the filing of the pleadings is com- he said. tics, accused the party of engaging Friday slammed the center and West
plete, will hear the matter because of Venugopal noted that although in “shoddy politics,” and did not ac- Bengal government for the Murshi-
the important questions of constitu- the Supreme Court’s remarks are knowledge the improvements in the dabad violence. His criticism came in
tional law that have been raised. In not a final ruling, they support the amended legislation. the wake of violence following pro-
the meantime, in order that the pe- opposition’s concerns. “Now, Hon- Reacting to the Supreme Court’s tests over the Waqf (amendment) Act
tition does not become infructuous, orable Supreme Court, through their recent observations on the Waqf in the State. Expressing pain, Tiwari
the Court, acting on the assurance accused both the center and the state
of the Solicitor General of India, has of failing to maintain law and order in
said that till the next date of hearing, Murshidabad, resulting in an exodus
or seven days, you will not make any of families. Tiwari said, “I am in pain
changes in the composition of the with what happened in Murshidabad.
Waqf Council or Waqf Board, you The victims should get justice. The
will not denotify the Waqf land by exodus should stop.”
user and you will not also denotify Pointed out the involvement of
the registered Waqf plan, which was, cross-border Bangladesh infiltrators;
these are the three main issues that he said,” If something has been con-
were challenged”. spired in Bangladesh, then both the
He further added that the Su- central and state governments are re-
preme Court’s observations are a sponsible.”
normal features of the Court’s pro- Criticizing the government in
cess and noted that the order was power, Tiwari said that both the cen-
made with the consent of the Solici- tral and state governments had failed
tor General. to stop a foreign conspiracy and pro-
Meanwhile, Congress General tect the borders.
Secretary KC Venugopal on Thurs- Amid such a tense situation in
day said that the Supreme Court’s West Bengal and other parts of the
preliminary observations on the Waqf Congress leaders Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Imran Pratapgarhi during a press conference on country, all eyes are now on the Su-
(Amendment) Act, 2025, validate the petitions challenging the Waqf (Amendment) Act 2025, in New Delhi (ANI Photo/Jitender Gupta) preme Court hearing on May 5, the day
stand taken by the INDI alliance and that can decide the future of this bill.

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