Govt MPs blast opposition for blocking Waqf Bill passage

Lawmakers say rejection of legislation in Senate exposes opposition’s double standards

ISLAMABAD:

Leader of the House in the Senate Shahzad Waseem and Science and Technology Minister Fawad Chaudhry lambasted the opposition parties on Thursday for opposing the Islamabad Capital Territory Waqf Properties Bill, 2020, without any valid reason, saying that it exposed their double standards.

Both the lawmakers of the ruling party said that the opposition parties had advocated for keeping a check on the funding of all the religious entities, including Lal Masjid and the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), in the past but opposed the bill when it was presented in Senate.

“What was the issue with the Waqf bill; why did they oppose it,” Chaudhry questioned, while talking to The Express Tribune in his office. “They always wanted to keep check on the finances of Lal Masjid and the TLP among other religious institutions; what has happened now that they opposed it in Senate.”

It seems that the Waqf bill was simply opposed because it was taken up with The Anti-Money Laundering (Second Amendment) Bill, 2020, Chaudhry said, adding that “no objection has so far been raised on the Waqf bill because there aren’t any”.

“The opposition rejected the bill without even reading it. The real purpose was to use their majority in the upper house as leverage for [getting] NRO,” said Waseem, the leader of the house. “They have been badly exposed for rejecting the bills without even looking at them.” He added that the opposition had proved that it gave more value to personal and political interests than the national issues.

Soon after the bills were rejected in the Senate this week, Prime Minister Imran Khan had accused the opposition parties of sabotaging the government’s efforts to exit the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list, saying that they would keep threatening to bring down the government unless given NRO.

Senator Javed Abbasi from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), while commenting on the blocking of the bills in Senate the other day said that the bills were opposed because of several procedural violations.

The bills were not sent to the committee concerned for improvement before being presented in Senate, Abbasi said. The opposition opposed the bills because the government tried to bulldoze the procedure, which “can’t be allowed”, he added. He stressed the opposition had questioned the legality of the entire proceedings leading to the voting process.

Several other senators from the opposition parties were asked to specifically reveal the objections to the Waqf Bill and give reasons why the bill was opposed in the upper house of parliament if there weren’t any but no one responded.

According to the bill, Waqf property means property of any kind permanently dedicated by a person professing Islam for any purpose recognised by Islam as religious, pious or charitable, but does not include property of any Waqf such as is described in section 3 of the Mussalman Waqf Validating Act.

In addition, the bill states that the property permanently dedicated for the purposes of a mosque, Takia, Khankah, Dargah or other shrines shall be deemed to be a Waqf property. And, the bill states, relief of the poor and the orphans, education, workshop, medical relief, maintenance or shrines and the advancement of any other object of charitable, religious or pious nature or of general public utility shall be deemed to be charitable purposes.

The bill, which was recently passed by the National Assembly, proposes imprisonment for a term which may not exceed from five years and fine up to Rs25 million for anyone who obstructs or offers any resistance to or impedes or otherwise interferes with the authorities of the officials concerned.

Adviser to Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan stated in the statement of objectives that the amendments were considered essential for the purpose of management, supervision and administration of Waqf properties in the territorial limits of the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT).

In order to enhance the effectiveness of the implementation of the orders passed by the federal government, Awan stated, the ICT required its exclusive law for the regulation and administration of Waqf properties situated therein. Also, he stated, the facilities required for meeting the necessary expenses through exemptions were also required to be incorporated in detail.