NC alliance should prioritise passing resolution to reject Waqf amendments: Mehbooba

Srinagar: PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday urged the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly to pass a resolution, rejecting the amendments to the Waqf Act passed by Parliament.

Wednesday is the last day of the Budget session of the Assembly.

"With today possibly marking the end of this Assembly session, the ruling alliance should prioritise passing a resolution to reject this bill rather than prolonging the political spectacle," Mufti, the former chief minister, said in a post on X.

The PDP president also referred to the chance meeting between Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Union Minister Kiren Rijiju at Tulip Garden here the other day, saying the meeting seemed to be a signal to the 24 crore Muslims of the country.

The ruling National Conference rubbished the charges, saying the opposition was "fishing in the desert".

"After bulldozing the Waqf Amendment Bill through Parliament, Minister Kiran Rijiju strategically chose to visit Kashmir. He was given a red carpet welcome by the Chief Minister of India's only Muslim-majority state -- a move that seemed designed and deliberate to signal to the 24 crore Muslims across India that their views hold little weight when the leader of the country's only Muslim-majority region stands in support," Mehbooba said.

"The visit set against the backdrop of Asia's largest tulip garden felt like a public celebration of the community's marginalisation and disempowerment," she added.

The PDP president said Abdullah's actions only deepened the sense of alienation and helplessness within the Muslim community.

"The chief minister's actions not only deepened the sense of alienation and helplessness within the Muslim community but also lent legitimacy to this unilateral decision widely perceived as dismissive of their interests," she said.

The PDP chief accused the National Conference of indulging in theatrics in the assembly to deflect people's attention from the three bills that were approved by the Lieutenant Governor.

"There was another reason for this ruckus. The LG had cleared three bills -- on regularisation of daily wagers, on providing land to the poor which was brought by (PDP MLA Waheed Ur Rehman) Para and ban on alcohol.

"To avoid these bills and to divert attention from these, there was a ruckus in the assembly. The ruckus was also to avoid attention from the NC leadership welcoming Rijiju who brought the Waqf Bill," she claimed.

The PDP president said her party will challenge the amendments to the Waqf Act in the Supreme Court.

On the issue of 83,000 people from outside Jammu and Kashmir getting domicile certificates, the former chief minister said it was nothing new. "Giving domiciles and making satellite townships is an agenda that Omar Abdullah is implementing."

Reacting to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's stand on Waqf amendments, Mehbooba asked why was the Muslim community not taken on board before bringing the bill in Parliament.

"All Muslims are opposing it. Everybody, except the NC and its leadership, is against it. Omar Abdullah and Farooq Abdullah did not oppose it. But, all Muslims in the country and even the secular parties are opposing it. Had this been in favour of the Muslims, then there was no need to occupy the graveyards of the Muslims," she said.

Mehbooba also said the chief minister should have been in the assembly to stand against the amendments. "He should have stood in the assembly and asserted that the (Union Territory) government will not implement it here as the Tamil Nadu government has said," she added.