JAMMU: The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly witnessed raucous scenes on Monday after Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather disallowed a discussion on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2025, citing its sub judice status, prompting repeated protests from National Conference (NC), Congress and other opposition legislators.
The uproar began shortly after the House reconvened following a 12-day recess for Eid. NC MLA Tanvir Sadiq, backed by Congress and PDP colleagues, demanded suspension of Question Hour to take up a discussion on the contentious Waqf legislation recently passed by Parliament. The Bill, which received presidential assent on April 5, has been challenged in the Supreme Court.
Speaker Rather cited Rule 58 of the House to deny the motion, stating, “No issue under adjudication by a court of law can be taken up through an adjournment motion. This Act has already been challenged in the Supreme Court.” He said he had received adjournment motions from at least nine MLAs but could not allow debate on a matter being litigated.
This led to angry protests from opposition benches. Slogans of “Ban karo, Waqf bill ko ban karo” and “BJP ki tanashahi nahi chalegi” reverberated in the House as some NC legislators climbed onto tables, tore copies of the Bill and hurled them into the Well. Marshals intervened to prevent lawmakers from storming the Speaker’s podium.
Sadiq argued that assemblies in states like Rajasthan, Punjab, and Tamil Nadu had previously discussed central legislation, including the GST and farm laws, even when similar legal challenges were pending. “We are not challenging Parliament’s authority, but this Bill directly affects a Muslim-majority region and we must be allowed to express our views,” he said.
PDP leader Waheed Parra accused the J&K government of shielding the Centre and betraying the public mandate. “If Tamil Nadu can pass a resolution, why not Jammu and Kashmir? This government is normalising the BJP’s political agenda,” he said.
As the din refused to die down, the Speaker adjourned the House for 15 minutes—the first such disruption during the ongoing budget session. A second adjournment followed after the House reassembled, but the uproar persisted.
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2025 aims to “modernise” the management of waqf properties across India by streamlining surveys, registrations and dispute resolutions. However, its enactment has drawn strong opposition in Jammu and Kashmir, where lawmakers say the law interferes with religious and community rights.
“This is not merely a technical amendment—it has deep cultural and emotional significance for our people,” said Gurezi, an NC legislator. “If we cannot raise it in the Assembly, then where?”
With just two days left in the budget session, political tensions in the House remain high, with the fate of further proceedings uncertain.
Outside the House, prominent religious leader and Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq also weighed in, calling the Speaker’s stance “ridiculous and condemnable”. In a post from Srinagar, Mirwaiz wrote, “It is ridiculous and condemnable that Tamil Nadu, which only has six per cent Muslim population, passes a strong anti-Waqf resolution in its assembly, while the Muslim-majority J&K Assembly Speaker is struggling and refusing, by hiding behind technicalities, to discuss this deeply concerning issue for the Muslims of the state.”
He added, “The Speaker would know that the strong people’s 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?”-(KL)
