Union Minister Kiren Rijiju clarifies that tribal communities in the northeast and other areas will be exempt from the proposed Uniform Civil Code (UCC) to preserve their traditional way of life.
'It is not as if Hindus are not being touched at all, and only Muslims are.'
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has urged Muslims to wear a black armband on their right hand during Juma prayers on the last Friday of Ramzan as a mark of protest against the Waqf (Amendment) Bill. The AIMPLB has been vocal in its opposition to the Bill, calling it "controversial, discriminatory and damaging." The organization has planned nationwide protests against the Bill, with large sit-ins scheduled in several cities.
The Web portal of the Organiser, the RSS mouthpiece, published an article (withdrawn later) that the Christian community holds many acres of land, far more than Waqf property.'
The bill aims to include all the Muslims sects in the Waqf board, Rijiju said.
'So, they have taken away the word Waqf from the Bill.' 'It will now be known as the UMEED Act.'
The Lok Sabha passed the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, with the ruling NDA defending it as beneficial for minorities while the opposition called it "anti-Muslim". All amendments moved by the opposition were rejected and the bill was passed with 288 votes in favor and 232 against. Union Minorities Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju asserted that India is the safest place in the world for minorities, refuting claims of their insecurity.
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025 was passed in the Lok Sabha early Thursday, with 288 members supporting it and 232 against it.
Opposition MPs, some of whom have given their dissent, slammed the exercise as undemocratic, claiming that they were given little time to study the final report and frame their dissent notes.
All opposition members of the parliamentary panel on the Waqf Amendment Bill were suspended for a day on Friday amid continuous protests and accusations against Chairman Jagdambika Pal of steam-rolling through the proceedings.
'Senior Vatican officials were pleasantly surprised at the number of Indians who had come to witness the ceremony.'
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla is expected to name the committee's chairperson soon.
A meeting of the joint committee of Parliament on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill on Friday witnessed fireworks with members vociferously opposing certain provisions of the draft legislation, leading to a brief walkout by opposition members.
Both factions of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind (Arshad Madani and Mahmood Madani) slammed the Bill and expressed grave concerns over the proposed legislation.
The bill to amend the law governing Waqf boards proposes far-reaching changes in the Wakf Act, 1995, including ensuring the representation of Muslim women and non-Muslims in such bodies.
With the BJP denying a renomination to Naqvi to the Upper House, and no Rajya Sabha renomination either for Sayyed Zafar Islam or MJ Akbar -- both of whom are also completing their tenures soon -- the party now has no Muslim member of Parliament from either House.
Extending lease period of Wakf property to 30 years is among the amendments likely to be introduced in the Wakf Act 1995 to prevent misuse of such institutions, the government said on Tuesday.
"We have seen the same thing after 2014 (elections) in the name of 'award wapsi', this is just part two of that," the minister said
Union Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, who has been elevated to Cabinet rank in Wednesday's reshuffle, had worked on many a party and governmental positions in the past. Khurshid, who is a Member of Parliament from Farrukhabad parliamentary constituency, had in the past served as junior minister of commerce and minister of state for eternal afairs during the 10th Lok Sabha (1991-96). Between 1996 and 2009,
Union Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said on Wednesday that Indian Muslims have failed to show their existence not only in the country but also outside it, underlining it as the reason why US President Barack Obama made no mention of them while expressing his desire to speak to Muslims of the world.
Union Minority Affairs Minister Abdul Rehman Antulay has the last laugh. Neither he was made to apologise and retract his remarks on the doubts he raised over the killing of Mumbai ATS chief Hemant Karkare, nor did he get the boot, much hyped by most of the Media and sought by the BJP-led NDA Opposition.
Social activist from Uttar Pradesh Gayarul Hasan will be the NCM chairperson, while activist and BJP leader from from Kerala George Kurian, former Maharashtra minister Sulekha Kumbhare, Jain representative from Gujarat Sunil Singhi, and Vada Dasturji Khurshed, chief priest of the Udvada Athornan Anjuman, are its other members.
'The government used to give subsidy to reduce loss of Air India'
The BJP does 'empowerment and not appeasement,' Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi asserted.
The European Union on Friday reached out to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who is considered one of the important leaders from non-Bharatiya Janata Party opposition, ahead of next Lok Sabha polls.
In a not-so-veiled remarks targeted at Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, senior leader A R Antulay has squarely blamed the Congress high command for the situation the party finds itself at present
A R Antulay, the former Maharashtra CM, passed away today on Tuesday a prolonged illness
Greetings from all quarters, including his political rivals, poured in on Monday for Prime Minister Narendra Modi who celebrated his 68th birthday in his parliamentary constituency Varanasi.
Jaitley insisted the new central notification will not interfere with state laws on slaughtering animals.
Adityanath will be the 21st UP chief minister and the fourth from the BJP.
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