New Delhi, Mar 27 (PTI) Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Pralhad Joshi on Thursday accused Congress of making Karnataka a "lab to experiment appeasement politics" by providing 4 per cent reservation to Muslims in public contracts, while asserting that the Waqf amendment bill is not against any particular religion.

Speaking at a Times Now Summit here, Joshi accused Congress of creating a false narrative that the Waqf amendment bill is against the Muslim community.

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The minister said he was not against giving any facilities to anybody but cannot accept providing reservation in the name of religion.

"How can you give 4 per cent reservation in (public) contracts only to a particular religion?" he said adding that his party will fight it legally.

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He further said even the Waqf amendment bill is not against Muslims and some of them have complained of their properties been forcibly taken over as waqf properties.

Joshi explained in detail how properties of Hindus and Muslim communities as well as temples were being grabbed and declared as waqf properties across the country.

Citing an example of such incident in Karnataka, the minister said the Chalukya period temples in Bijapur constructed between 16-18th century are allegedly been declared as waqf properties.

Besides temples, individual properties of Hindus and Muslims have been grabbed.

"It is not that only properties of Hindus are grabbed, even poor Muslim properties are also grabbed. They have also come to agitation. This is a lab for the appeasement politics. In Karnataka, they (Congress) are making it as lab to experiment," he said.

Joshi explained that the Waqf amendment bill aims at safeguarding the existing waqf properties besides putting in place a system to check illegal declaration of properties as waqf.

Asked about Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's allegation that he was not allowed to speak in Lok Sabha, the minister said he did not attend first two weeks of the ongoing Parliament session.

"I have seen many Leaders of Opposition. I have seen Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Khargeji, Adhi Ranjan Chowdhary used to sit through the day in the House. When I was a first time MP, I used cancel all my engagements to be in House. He (Gandhi) does not come to Parliament. He does not give notice and seek permission of chair to speak. And later says that he is not allowed to speak," he said.

They are trying to create a narrative that he is not being allowed to speak, he added.

Joshi also refuted allegation that Gandhi's mic in the House was switched off deliberately, saying the tradition in the House is that mic is switched on only after the chair permits a member to speak.

The controversial Waqf Amendment Bill, which calls for significant reforms to the administration of waqf properties in India, will be introduced in Parliament next week after Eid.

The Bill was tabled in the Lok Sabha on August 8, 2024, and has since witnessed protests by the opposition leaders, who have claimed that the bill has been brought in with a 'communal intention" and is an "assault" on the Constitution.

The Waqf Bill was sent for review and discussion to a 31-member Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) consisting of 21 Lok Sabha and 10 Rajya Sabha members.

The joint committee has 655-page report submitted on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on January 30. It suggested several amendments to the proposed legislation even as the opposition members disagreed with the report and submitted dissent.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)