NEW DELHI: Senior All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader Imtiaz Jaleel on Thursday declared his party’s intention to protest the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, in the streets and challenge the legislation in the Supreme Court, but added there was not “much hope” from the apex court.
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“Now that the bill is passed, we will fight one fight on the road and another in the Supreme Court. But we don’t have much hope from the Supreme Court,” Jaleel, the AIMIM’s Maharashtra unit chief, said.
“If there are judges who want to be NHRC (National Human Rights Commission) chairman or want a Rajya Sabha seat after retirement, then there is going to be no justice. Under PM Modi’s rule, there are a lot of judges who go and sit next to PM Modi as soon as they retire and get good posts,” he explained.
Jaleel also targeted Chandrababu Naidu and Nitish Kumar, chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, respectively, whose Telugu Desam Party and Janata Dal (United) are among the constituents of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
“When the voting was completed, there was only a difference of around 50 votes (288-232). Chandrababu Naidu and Nitish Kumar have supported PM Modi out of fear, but how will they face the people when they go for elections after four months?” Jaleel asked.
NDA-ruled Bihar is scheduled to go to polls later in the year.
For the BJP, Naidu and Kumar’s support was crucial in ensuring the bill’s passage in the Lok Sabha, as unlike the first two terms of its tenure, the saffron party does not have a majority of its own in the House. Muslim bodies were pressuring the two leaders against backing the bill, citing the community’s support for their parties.
Lok Sabha passed the Waqf (Amendment) Bill in early hours of Thursday, after a marathon debate which began at noon on Wednesday. The legislation is now being debated in the Rajya Sabha and is expected to pass there as well. It will then be sent to President Droupadi Murmu and become a law upon her assent.
