New Delhi: Hours after the Lok Sabha passed the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024, Janata Dal (United) leader Mohammed Kasim Ansari resigned from primary membership of the party over its support for the legislation.
In a letter to Nitish, Ansari said he gave the party several years of his life but was ‘disheartened’ by its support for the bill.
Reacting to Ansari’s resignation, JD(U) spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan Prasad said, “It is difficult to even react to this as I don’t even know whether he is part of the JD(U) or not. He is certainly not an office-bearer of the party.”
ThePrint reached Ansasi for comment via phone calls but had not received a response by the time of publication. This report will be updated if and when a response is received.
The JD(U), led by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and a constituent of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), has extended support to the contentious bill which was referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) chaired by BJP MP Jagdambika Pal.
The bill was passed in the Lok Sabha late Wednesday after nearly 12 hours of debate, by a 288-232 vote. It was then introduced in the Rajya Sabha Thursday by Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju.
In his letter, Ansari wrote that “millions of Indian Muslims” like himself had unwavering faith in Nitish’s reputation as the flag-bearer of secularism.
“But now this belief has been shattered,” he said.
He added that millions of Indian Muslims and dedicated party workers like himself were “deeply shocked” by the party’s stand on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024. “We are deeply saddened by the attitude and the manner in which Shri Lallan Singh gave his speech in the Lok Sabha and supported the bill. The Waqf Bill is against us Indian Muslims. We cannot accept it under any circumstances,” Ansari wrote.
He argued that the legislation violates fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution and that it ‘humiliates and disgraces’ Indian Muslims. He also said that the bill is anti-Pasmanda, something which “neither you nor your party realise”.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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