Kiren Rijiju, Nirmala Sitharaman welcome Kerala Bishop's support to amend "unjust" provisions of Waqf Act

New Delhi [India], March 31 (ANI): After the Kerala Catholic Bishops Council (KCBC) supported the Waqf Amendment Bill proposed by the centre, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju asserted that the proposed bill was not against any community while calling out the "propaganda" being spread around it.
"This act is not against any community - that is propaganda being spread to poison minds of some," Rijiju posted on X, adding, "I welcome the request by Kerala Catholic Bishops' Council (KCBC) to all MPs of Kerala to support the Waqf Amendment Bill as a Minister and as a minority community member."
Reacting to the support extended by the Bshop's Council, the Union Minister argued that it was the duty of those in politics to address the challenges faced by the people while highlighting the struggle of hundreds of families in Kerala's Munambam to protect their properties.
"It is the duty of those in politics to care for and address problems and challenges faced by our people. For example, hundreds of families in Munambam, Kerala, have suffered and continue to seek a solution to protect their properties and homes," Rijiju added.
He said that the central government would continue to protect the rights of every citizen and urged the MPs from Kerala to support the Waqf Amendment Bill.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi and our government strive to protect the rights of every Indian citizen and will continue to do so. I sincerely hope all Kerala MPs will support this Bill in the interest of all people and not sacrifice the interest of people for petty appeasement politics," Rijiju said.
Meanwhile, Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also welcomed the support extended by the KCBC to the Waqf bill.
"A welcome step by the Kerala Catholic Bishops Council (KCBC). Their call is for amending the sections which are "unfair" and "anti-constitutional" in the existing Waqf Act," Sitharaman posted on X.
These reactions come after the KCBC urged MPs to vote in favour of amending the "unconstitutional" and "unjust" provisions of the Waqf Act.
The statement issued by Fr. Thomas Tharayil of the KCBC secretariat said that provisions in the Waqf law, which legitimise the "illegal claims" in such a way that people in Munambam are unable to exercise their revenue claims on the land, need to be amended.
"The Farooq College management, which sold the land to the residents of Munambam, has asserted that the land in question was received as a gift, the MPs should cooperate to amend the waqf bill Which has provisions to raise claims against this. KCBC will send letter to each MPs requesting to vote in favour of amending waqf bill," KCBC said in a statement.
Around 610 families of Munambam, a coastal village in the Ernakulam district, have been protesting against the claim by the Waqf Board on their land. (ANI)