Fact-Check: False Claim Viral That Waqf Amendment Bill Passed in Rajya Sabha

The amendment bill has been accepted in the Rajya Sabha and not passed as claimed.

Fact-Check: The bill has been tabled and accepted but not passed in the Rajya Sabha.

(Source: The Quint) 

Amid the ongoing discussions for the Waqf (Amendment) Bill in the parliament, a claim is circulating on social media to claim that the bill has 'passed' in the Rajya Sabha.

An archive of the post can be found here. 

(Source: X/Screenshot) 

(Archives of similar claims can be found here and here.)

Is the claim true?: No, the claim is false.

• The bill is yet to passed in Rajya Sabha.

• It was tabled and accepted in the Rajya Sabha. Opposition members staged protests during its discussions, leading to the house being adjourned.

What we found: We ran a relevant keyword search and came across news reports which did not mention anything about the bill being 'passed' in the upper house of the parliament.

• As per reports by India Today and Business Standard from 13 February, the bill was tabled and accepted by the members of the Rajya Sabha.

• The reports noted that the house was adjourned following the opposition's protests during the bill's discussions.

• Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge demanded the report be sent back to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for reconsideration, stating that excluding dissenting views undermined democratic principles.

• In response, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju asserted that the dissent notes were included in the report's appendix and accused the opposition of misleading the House.

• We found no reports which state that the bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha.

• Similar pattern prevailed in the Lok Sabha with the house being adjourned following protests by opposition members.

• At present the houses were adjourned on 13 February and will reconvene on 10 March, as per the Sansad website.

What is the amendment: The bill proposes key changes to the existing Waqf Board, such as including at least two non-Muslim members on state Waqf boards and assigning a government official to determine the status of Waqf properties. The parliamentary committee submitted its final report on 30 January.

Conclusion: Social media users have falsely claimed that the Waqf (Amendment) Bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha.

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