Bhubaneswar: The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has decided to oppose the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024. BJD President and former chief minister Naveen Patnaik said this while addressing at a meeting of the party’s minority cell at the party headquarters Sankha Bhawan here today.
“The BJD will strongly oppose the bill if it is tabled in Parliament,” he said.
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill proposes several key changes to the Waqf Act of 1995, including allowing a non-Muslim chief executive officer and at least two non-Muslim members to be appointed by the State government to State Waqf Boards. It also proposes bringing the district collector as the arbiter on whether a property is Waqf property or government land. It has been referred to a joint parliamentary panel.
“We are proud of our cultural diversity. Cooperation of everyone is required to build a prosperous country,” Shri Patnaik said.
The Leader of Opposition also claimed that he has been meeting people from minority communities every day, and they have expressed a “sense of insecurity”.
“BJD is truly a secular party and it is neither part of the NDA or the INDIA bloc. The BJD had earlier supported some of the bills introduced by the NDA government for the sake of cooperative federalism,” BJD Minority Cell leader Munna Khan told reporters.
Shri Khan also asserted that the BJD would not tolerate any attempt to disrupt social harmony in Odisha.
Though the BJD has no MP in the Lok Sabha, it has eight members in the Rajya Sabha.