THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Putting aside political differences, UDF and LDF MPs from Kerala ignored the Christian Church’s warning and opposed the Waqf Amendment Bill 2025 tabled in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. All the MPs from the state who spoke, barring Union minister Suresh Gopi, questioned the BJP government’s intention in bringing in the bill.
Invoking German poet Martin Neimoller’s poem ‘First They Came’, CPM MP K Radhakrishnan sought to remind the supporters of the bill that “if the BJP government is after the Muslims today, they would definitely come after those who are supporting the bill tomorrow.”
Radhakrishnan told the House that in 1987, the Hindutva forces had orchestrated a large protest in Kerala by propagating that a Christian was elected to the Devaswom board.
“However, later it turned out that though his name sounded Christian, he was indeed a Hindu,” the CPM member said and drew Suresh Gopi’s attention to the incident.
In reply, Gopi alleged that his name was unnecessarily dragged into the discussion.
“These people had passed a resolution in the (Kerala) assembly. Tomorrow when the Rajya Sabha passes the bill, that resolution is going to drowned in the Arabian sea. You just wait for that,” he said.
Countering the claims raised by the Minister for Minority Affairs Kiran Rijiju on the statements of the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council (KCBC) and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) on the bill, Congress MP K C Venugopal alleged that the Vishwa Hindu Parishad was formed during the Pope’s visit to India claiming that the Papal visit was related to religious conversion.
“Now in the new statement, the CBCI has also cautioned that the rights of religious minorities as guaranteed by the Constitution must be safeguarded. A total of 753 churches had been attacked in India,” he said.
IUML MP E T Muhammad Basheer said that Home Minister Amit Shah’s claim that he is the champion and saviour of minorities is the biggest joke of 2025.
“It is his government which tortured minorities in India physically, mentally, socially and economically. The bill removes Waqf Board’s power to inquire and intervene whether its property was encroached upon,” he said.
Francis George of Kerala Congress and Hibi Eden of Congree also opposed the bill.