Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah (left) with Union Minister Kiren Rijiju.
Credit: X/@KirenRijiju
Srinagar: The decision by Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Speaker to reject an adjournment motion on the contentious Waqf (Amendment) Bill, coupled with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s meeting with Union Minister Kiren Rijiju at Tulip Garden on Monday, sparked widespread criticism from opposition leaders and religious figures in the Valley.
Opposition leaders questioned Abdullah’s actions, pointing out that Rijiju, the Minority Affairs Minister who introduced the Waqf Bill in Parliament, was being warmly received by the Chief Minister.
J&K People's Conference leader Sajad Lone in a post on X said, “The least Muslims of India deserved was that in J and K, the only Muslim majority province in India, the CM as a mark of protest stays away from Mr Kiren Rijju, who presented the waqf bill. Instead he tags along Farooq sahib as well. What a shame (sic).”
People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president and former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, accused the National Conference (NC) government of bowing to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) alleged “anti-Muslim” agenda and “cynically attempting to appease both sides.”
“The National Conference (NC) could learn from Tamil Nadu’s government, which has firmly opposed the Waqf Bill. In J&K, the only Muslim-majority region, it’s alarming that a supposedly people-centric government lacks the courage even to debate this critical issue,” Mufti said in a post on X.
The Bill was passed by Parliament last week which aims to streamline the management of Waqf properties (assets permanently donated by Muslims for religious or charitable purposes) with provisions to safeguard heritage sites and promote social welfare.
However, the amendments to a 1995 law governing Muslim endowments would add non-Muslims to boards that manage such properties and give the government a larger role in validating their land holdings.
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the Hurriyat chairman and chief cleric of Kashmir, criticized the Speaker’s rejection of the adjournment motion as a “blatant attempt to sidestep the concerns of the Muslim-majority population of Jammu and Kashmir.”
“It is ridiculous and condemnable that Tamil Nadu which only has 6% Muslim population, passes a strong anti Wakf resolution in it’s assembly, while the Muslim majority J&K assembly speaker is struggling and refusing, by hiding behind technicalities, to discuss this deeply concerting issue for the Muslims of the state,” he posted on X.
Mirwaiz also questioned the Speaker’s commitment to the promises made by the ruling party, particularly in protecting the rights of the people which were ‘trampled’ since August 2019.
“The speaker would know that the strong peoples mandate given to his party was precisely for the reason that the party had promised to safeguard the interests of the people being trampled upon since August 2019 and take a stand for them in critical matters. Why is he capitulating so meekly?” Mirwaiz asked.