Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi launched a fierce counterattack on Wednesday, April 2, after Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju tabled the Waqf Amendment Bill. Gogoi accused the BJP-led government of trying to “defame (and) disenfranchise minorities” and staging an “4D assault on the Constitution”.
Gogoi also questioned the government over a contentious provision – that donations can only be made by a Muslim who has been practicing his/her faith for at least five years.
“Today the condition of minorities has become such the government will give a ‘certificate ‘of their religion. Will they ask for certificates from other religions also… whether they have completed five years? Why is this being asked of Muslims? Why is the government interfering in religion?” the MP said.
He added, “This bill is an assault on the Constitution. The aim is to dilute the Constitution, defame and disenfranchise minorities… divide Indian society.”
In his lengthy rebuttal to Rijiju, the Assam leader began by accusing the Union Minister of making misleading statements, which earned him a reprimand from Speaker Om Birla.
Gogoi also pointed out the Minority Affairs Ministry did not mention this bill in four meetings of its parliamentary committee in 2023, a year before the amendments were suddenly tabled.
“The day this bill was introduced, he (Rijiju) said that there were comprehensive discussions over it. This is completely misleading. There was no mention of need of new Waqf (Amendment) Bill during the five meeting of Ministry of Minority Affairs. We have seen the minutes of these meetings. I just want to ask whether this bill has been made by Ministry of Minority Affairs or another ministry?” the Congress leader said.
He added, “What message do you (government) want to give? The community that fought for India’s independence, the community that sacrificed its life along with Mangal Pandey in 1857, you want to tarnish the image of that community. When you were writing mercy petitions to the British, when you people were not supporting the Quit India Movement, that community supported the Quit India Movement…You want to tarnish the image of the community which completely rejected Jinnah’s two-nation theory in 1924. This is your divide and rule. Nationalism for us is being united…”
The Congress leader also ripped into the functioning of the joint parliamentary committee that had been tasked, last year, with reviewing the proposed changes to the Waqf laws.
