Taking strong exception to the passage of the Waqf Bill in the Lok Sabha, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M K Stalin on Thursday said his party would file a case in the Supreme Court against the Bill.
Following the announcement, the opposition All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam expressed solidarity with 'all steps' taken by the DMK on the issue while the Bharatiya Janata Party members staged a walkout from the Assembly House in protest.
The CM, who came to the Assembly wearing a black badge to protest against the passing of the Bill, said adopting the amendment at 2 am 'at the behest of a few allies' despite the opposition of the majority parties in India, 'is an attack on the structure of the Constitution'.
"This is an act that disturbs religious harmony. To highlight this, we are participating in today's Assembly proceedings wearing black badges," the chief minister told the House.
"I would like to inform you that a case will be filed in the Supreme Court on behalf of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) against this controversial amendment. Tamil Nadu will fight against the Union government's law which destroys the autonomy of the Waqf Board and threatens the minority Muslim population," Stalin said amidst thumping of desks by the Treasury.
He pointed out that the state Assembly had already passed a resolution on March 27, against the proposed amendment as it would seriously affect the religious harmony of India besides the minority Muslim community.
He said it was highly condemnable that the amendment of the Waqf Act has been passed in the Lok Sabha despite 232 MPs voting against it and this was not an ordinary number, and the number may increase. Only 288 members voted in its favour, the Chief Minister said.
AIADMK member and former state Minister S P Velumani said his party fully supported the state government on the Waqf Bill and demanded its immediate recall.
Speaking on the Chief Minister's announcement, he said the AIADMK supported Stalin's resolution on the Waqf Board Amendment Bill in the House, and had said that it should be amended to allay the apprehensions of Muslims.
"The Centre should make necessary changes in consultation with the minorities. The bill in its present form should be revoked. The AIADMK will be supportive of the state government on this issue," Velumani said.
After staging a walkout from the Assembly, BJP leader Nainar Nagendran told reporters that his party walked out because the ruling DMK attempted to portray the BJP government at the Centre as anti-Muslims.
"The Bill was subjected to scrutiny and appropriate changes made before being passed in the Lok Sabha after a debate. But the Chief Minister made his party MLAs wear black badges in the Assembly and they raised slogans," Nagendran said.
Normally, opposition parties protest inside the Assembly, but here was a CM who converted the Assembly House into a venue of agitation, he claimed.
"This is regrettable and so was the act of passing Assembly resolution against the Centre's National Education Policy, terming learning in one's mother tongue as Hindi imposition."
The BJP leader alleged that the DMK created an 'illusion' as if the union government was against the Muslims eyeing the 2026 Assembly election 'seeking to gain from vote bank politics', Nagendran alleged.
In a post on the social media platform X, BJP state chief K Annamalai said DMK's misadventure in Assembly today, which included the DMK alliance MLAs wearing black badges and Thiru @mkstalin proclaiming they will challenge the Waqf Bill in the Supreme Court, was, of late, becoming extremely predictable.
'All this drama is to save a portion of their minority vote bank. Has the TN CM not realised that it is not just Hindus but also Christians who are also the affected parties due to the previous Waqf law? Kindly don't use the Assembly for your theatrics, Thiru @mkstalin,' he said in the post.
As a 'follow-up drama,' DMK would hire someone next year before the elections to write a book titled Appa's Efforts to Oppose the 2025 Waqf Bill he said and claimed that the DMK would make this an election plank and misguide innocent Muslims in the 2026 Assembly and 2029 parliament elections.
"DMK only knows to Deceive & Divide," Annamalai said in the post.
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