No objection to dissent notes, says Amit Shah amid Opposition protests in Lok Sabha on Waqf Bill report

New Delhi: Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said that the government has no opposition if dissent notes of the Opposition are added to the Joint Parliamentary Committee report on the Waqf Amendment Bill that was tabled in Parliament today.

Chairman of the Waqf Amendment Bill, Jagdambika Pal today tabled the panel's report in the Lok Sabha amid opposition protest. Earlier in the day, the report was tabled in the Rajya Sabha with the opposition alleging that their dissent notes were included in the JPC's final report.

Addressing the Lower House of Parliament, Union Home Minister Shah amidst Opposition sloganeering said that, "Some members of the Opposition have raised objections that their dissent notes have not been fully included in the report. On behalf of my party, I would like to request that the disputes of the opposition be included in the appropriate procedure of the parliamentary process; my party has no objection to this."

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said that he has included all the dissent notes after meeting with the opposition leaders. "Whatever issues were raised by the members of the Waqf Board who met with me, I have included them in the annexure," Birla said.

The Lok Sabha was subsequently adjourned till 11 am on March 10. Congress National President and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge had earlier opposed the JPC report on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, alleging that dissent notes from Opposition members were removed. Kharge said that it is not right to remove the dissent notes and views of the Opposition members from the report.

"In the JPC report on the Waqf Board, many members have their dissent report. It is not right to remove those notes and bulldoze our views. This is anti-democratic and condemnable. Stockholders were called from outside and their statements were taken. I condemn any report that has been presented after deleting the dissent reports. We will never accept such fake reports. If the report does not have dissent views, it should be sent back and presented again," Kharge said.

(ANI)