Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Oct 22: The Trinamool Congress Member of Parliament Kalyan Banerjee was suspended for a day and two sittings for his unruly behaviour at a meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Waqf Board bill on Tuesday.
An angry Mr Banerjee who was engaged in heated arguments with a fellow West Bengal MP Abhijit Ganopadyay of the BJP, smashed a glass bottle on the table and also allegedly tried to throw the broken glass pieces towards the chairman of the committee Jagdambika Pal of the BJP. Mr Banerjee in the process received a deep cut on his right thumb and index finger and had to be given four stiches at the Parliament medical centre.
A resolution moved by the BJP member of the committee Nishikant Dubey was carried by nine votes to eight suspending Mr Banerjee for one day and two sittings under rule 261 and 374(1)(2) of the Lok Sabha for his words against the Chairman of the Committee and for his behaviour of smashing a glass bottle.
The incident happened at a sitting of the joint parliamentary committee which met on Tuesday to study amendments to the Waqf Board Bill. The energetic Mr Banerjee – who made headlines last December after mimicking the vice-president Jagdeep Dhankhad when opposition MPs protested on Parliament’s steps – slammed a glass bottle on the table while arguing with Abhijit Gangopadhyay, a BJP MP and ex judge of the Calcutta High Court.
Sources said a ‘scuffle’ broke as two Odisha organisations were making a presentation, the relevance of which was questioned by the opposition MPs asking what was their stake in the measure. Mr Banerjee was apparently speaking out of turn; he was determined to make a point as Mr Gangopadhyay was speaking, but the BJP MP was equally determined to not concede.
A spat broke out and both MPs began using unparliamentary language, sources said. It was then that an incensed Mr Banerjee then slammed the glass bottle on the table. The committee met last week too, and there was drama then as well.
Opposition MPs boycotted that meet claiming a “biased” committee and demanding that BJP MP Jagdambika Pal be removed as Chairperson. “We boycotted because the committee is not functioning (as per) principles and norms… In terms of ethics they are wrong,” the Shiv Sena’s Arvind Sawant had said.
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill was tabled in Parliament in August and, amid furious protests from opposition MPs, sent to the joint committee for further study. Back in August, in the feisty exchange that followed the proposals being tabled, the Congress called it a “draconian” measure, an “attack on the federal system”, and a violation of fundamental rights.
Other opposition leaders, including the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, also objected to the alterations in the Waqf laws, including the make-up of central and state boards – which could now include non-Muslims – and the councils’ ability to earmark land for various purposes.
At least three BJP allies – including Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JDU and his Andhra Pradesh counterpart Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP, both of whom are critical in Mr Modi’s party maintaining its government – have also spoken out against the Waqf Amendment Bill.
Speaking after the opposition had its say, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju ripped into his rivals, declaring previous central governments (referring to those led by the Congress) could not address this issue, and that had forced the BJP-led administration to introduce these amendments.
Among the proposed changes (apart from including non-Muslim members) is a provision to include at least two women on every board, including the Central Council. Sources have told NDTV the idea is to empower Muslim women and children who “suffered” under the old law.
