Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Nishikant Dubey has called for an investigation into the large number of submissions—1.25 crore—received by the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) that is reviewing the Waqf (Amendment) Bill. Dubey, who is part of the committee, has said that there’s possible involvement of foreign forces like Pakistan’s ISI and China.
The Waqf Amendment Bill, introduced by the Central government on July 28, proposes including non-Muslims and Muslim women in Waqf boards and limits the board’s power to declare property as Waqf. Due to opposition from other parties, the Bill was sent to a JPC, led by BJP MP Jagdambika Pal, on August 8. Last month, the JPC invited public feedback, and they received over 1.25 crore emails and 75,000 letters.
In a letter to JPC Chairman Pal, Dubey questioned the high number of submissions and raised suspicions of “anti-national forces” behind this. He said that most of the emails were in the same format and called for a detailed investigation into their sources.
“We cannot allow external forces to manipulate our democratic process. We need to take swift action to protect the sanctity of Parliament,” Dubey wrote in his letter.
Vinod Bansal, spokesperson of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), supported Dubey’s claims and referred to the feedback volume as an “email jihad.” He also suspected the involvement of Zakir Naik and other “anti-national forces” in orchestrating the mass emails and urged the government to investigate.
Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Minority Affairs, Kiren Rijiju, said he could not comment on the JPC’s internal matters but assured that the committee would thoroughly look into the issue. “The JPC has been empowered, and we will review the situation once the report is submitted,” he said.
