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‘Will Lead To Social Instability…’: Asaduddin Owaisi Warns Modi Govt Against Waqf Bill

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New Delhi: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi, strongly opposed the Waqf Bill during the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) meeting in the Lok Sabha on February 4.

Owaisi warned the Modi government against tabling the bill in its current form, saying that it will lead to “social instability in the country.” The AIMIM chief emphasised that the Muslim community has rejected the bill in its present form as it violates Articles 25, 26 and 14 of the Indian Constitution, which guarantee rights to religious equality and freedom.

“I am cautioning and warning this government – if you bring and make a Waqf law in the present form, which will be a violation of Articles 25, 26 and 14, it will lead to social instability in this country. It has been rejected by the entire Muslim community. No Waqf property will be left, nothing will be left,” Owaisi said during his address in the Lok Sabha.

“As a proud Indian Muslim, I will not lose an inch of my Masjid…I will not lose an inch of my Dargah. I will not allow that. We will no more come and give a diplomatic talk over here. This is the House where I have to stand and speak honestly, that my community – we are proud Indians. It is my property, not given by anyone. You cannot snatch it away from me. Waqf is a form of worship for me,” he added.

Asserting that the bill will hinder the nation’s progress, Owaisi further said, “You want to make India ‘Viksit Bharat’, we want ‘Viksit Bharat’. You want to take this country back to the ’80s and early ’90s, it will be your responsibility.”

What Does Waqf Mean In Islamic Law?

Waqf in Islamic law refers to property dedicated to religious or charitable purposes, such as funding mosques or supporting the needy. Once designated as waqf, the property cannot be sold, inherited, or transferred, with its income supporting the intended causes.

A key issue in the new Bill is the proposal to allow non-Muslims to serve on important waqf bodies like the Central Waqf Council and State Waqf Boards. This departs from the 1995 Act, which restricted these roles to Muslims, and also includes provisions for women and non-Muslim members.

Opposition MPs Protest Against The Waqf (Amendment) Bill

The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, was introduced in the Lok Sabha on August 8 2024. The bill was referred for consultation to a 31-member Joint Parliamentary Committee, chaired by BJP leader Jagdambika Pal. So far, 572 amendments have been proposed to the draft bill by the committee.

On February 3, opposition MPs Kalyan Banerjee (Lok Sabha) and Md. Nadimul Haque (Rajya Sabha) strongly opposed the removal of key portions from their dissent notes submitted to the JCP on the bill.

In their letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, the MPs accused that their objections were deleted without any prior notice or explanation.

“To our dismay and utter surprise, we found that the following objectives and dissent notes have been deleted by the Chairman without informing us and without our consent,” an excerpt from the letter dated February 3, 2025, read.

Crime

Puducherry school teacher arrested for sexually assaulting six-year-old girl student

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Puducherry, Feb 15: Puducherry Police arrested a school teacher for sexually abusing a six-year-old girl student of his school. The teacher identified as Manikandan, who is teaching at a private school was arrested on Saturday.

The child is a Class 1 student in the private school where Manikantan teaches. The incident came to light when the girl complained of physical discomfort and was taken to a hospital, where doctors confirmed that she had been sexually harassed.

The girl’s parents and relatives alleged that the school administration and police failed to take action despite being informed about the incident.

Infuriated by this, over 200 locals and relatives of the child staged a protest and blocked the Puducherry-Cuddalore road, causing a three-hour traffic jam.

On information, the police arrived at the scene and held talks with the protesters after which Manikandan was arrested.

The police have registered a case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and are investigating.

Earlier, three government school teachers of Tamil Nadu were arrested for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl at Panchayat Union Middle School in Bargur, Krishnagiri district. The crime, which occurred in early January, only came to light on February 3 when schoolteachers visited the girl’s home to inquire about her prolonged absence.

During their visit, the girl disclosed the sexual assault, which reportedly occurred inside a toilet on the school campus. Following her revelation, the school’s headmistress and the block education officer filed a complaint, leading to the arrest of the three accused teachers on February 4.

Krishnagiri District Collector Dhinesh Kumar confirmed that the girl is being provided mental health support by psychiatrists and psychologists.

The accused teachers have denied the charges but were suspended pending investigation.

In another shocking incident, Tamil Nadu Police have arrested a science teacher at a government school in Yercaud, Salem, for sexually abusing ten female students. The accused, Ilayakannu (37), was arrested by Yercaud Police and charged under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act.

Ilayakannu, who taught science to students in classes 10 and 12, allegedly assaulted ten girls. The incident came to light when one of the victims gathered the courage to inform the school’s headmistress and demanded action against the teacher.

The headmistress immediately reported the matter to officials of the Education Department and the District Child Protection Unit. Following this, an inquiry team visited the school and conducted investigations with the students.

Preliminary inquiries confirmed that the teacher had abused ten students. Based on the complaint filed by the District Child Protection Unit, the Kondalampatti All Women’s Police Station registered a case under the POCSO Act and arrested Ilayakannu.

Further investigations are underway.

The incident sparked outrage, with former Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS) expressing shock. In a social media post, he criticised the DMK government for failing to ensure students’ safety in government schools and called upon Chief Minister M K Stalin to take full responsibility for the incident.

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Business

FM has given very clear picture of Indian economy, reforms: PM Modi

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New Delhi, Feb 15: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, while responding to the debate on the Union Budget 2025-26 in the Parliament this week, has given a very clear picture of the Indian economy and ongoing reforms, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday.

“During her remarks in Parliament, Finance Minister @nsitharaman has given a very clear picture of the Indian economy and the reform trajectory we are undertaking,” PM Modi posted on social media platform X.

During the Budget debate in the Lok Sabha, the Union Finance Minister said the Indian economy will continue to be the world’s fastest-growing economy backed by the increase in the government’s capital expenditure in the Budget for 2025-26 and rising consumption levels, especially in the rural areas.

The Finance Minister said that the effective capital expenditure works out to 4.3 per cent of the GDP in the Budget for 2025-26 while the fiscal deficit is 4.4 per cent.

She further cited figures from the Budget to show that the capex allocation in the budget has increased to Rs 1.21 lakh crore, dismissing the opposition’s claim that the outlay has been reduced.

According to her, inflation management is the highest priority of this government and overall retail inflation is within the notified tolerance band of 2 per cent to 6 per cent.

During the Budget debate in the Rajya Sabha, FM Sitharaman said that the Budget for FY26 was prepared during a challenging time, with serious external challenges beyond estimates or forecasts.

“For decades, we have been talking about globalisation. Now we are facing the issue of fragmentation in the world. Everybody wants to have a free market but there are increasing tariff barriers. The world is growing through a major change,” said Finance Minister.

She further stated that there are no models that you can build and understand how the trends will be because they are very dynamic.

“Despite that, we have tried keeping the assessments as close as possible, keeping India’s interests as topmost. This immense uncertainty is still playing out and many Indian imports which are very critical for our economy to grow are also going to be left with uncertainty,” she mentioned.

The Budget has not reduced sectoral allocations and the effective capital expenditure during the next fiscal is estimated at Rs 19.08 lakh crore, according to FM Sitharaman.

She also introduced the new Income Tax Bill, 2025, in the Lok Sabha this week, as part of the tax reforms to streamline and simplify the provisions so that they are easier to understand and reduce the scope for legal disputes.

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Crime

Sixteen ABVP workers booked for protesting against Metro fare hike in Karnataka

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Bengaluru, Feb 15: Sixteen Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) workers have been booked for staging a protest against the price hike by the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), police said.

The police said that an FIR was registered at the Cottonpet Police in Bengaluru as the ABVP workers had staged a protest without obtaining permission from authorities.

Notably, the Congress-led Karnataka government is blaming the Centre and the opposition BJP is slamming the state government over the ticket price hike.

Under fire over the 100 per cent price hike, the BMRCL announced that they would address the grievances by adjusting the ticket prices between the stages, however, the new minimum and maximum fare will remain the same.

The Congress-led Karnataka government has been facing criticism from all corners, including the public over the steep ticket price hike.

According to sources, the number of footfalls in Metro has reduced to 6 to 7 lakh per day from 8 to 9 lakh.

The Janata Dal (Secular) held a protest at Freedom Park on Friday, demanding an immediate rollback of the metro fare hike.

“Due to the high costs, more than 1.5 lakh passengers have already abandoned metro travel. This project was originally introduced to reduce Bengaluru’s traffic congestion, but it has lost its true purpose,” the party alleged.

Earlier, CM Siddaramaiah appealed to the BMRCL to reduce the fare hike. CM Siddaramaiah stated, “The way Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) has implemented the Bengaluru Metro fare revision has led to anomalies, with fares more than doubling in certain sections.”

He further stated, “I have asked the MD of BMRCL to urgently address these issues and reduce fares where increases are abnormal. Commuters’ interests must be safeguarded.”

Last Saturday, the BMRCL announced a revision of Metro ticket prices.

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