Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday said the real intention of the BJP is to take over the land of the Waqf board and hand it over to its industrialist friends and that was the reason why the Waqf bill was tabled in Parliament.
"If you want to take the land why don't you take back the land grabbed by China or by Pakistan in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir," said Thackeray.
He further said the economic problems that India will face after US President Donald Trump's new tariff regime should have been the main issue of discussion in the Parliament.
The prime minister should have held an all-party meeting to discuss the implications of Trump's tariffs instead he went abroad, he said, adding, "It was surprising to see minister Kiran Rijiju tabling the bill as he had earlier supported consumption of beef as food."
He also said the speeches by BJP leaders on Wednesday were such that even Barrister Jinnah would have felt BJP has the real love for poor Muslims. "They say that our party has left the cause of Hindutva; so why were they talking about welfare of Muslims yesterday in their speeches," he wondered.
He said his party was not opposed to bringing transparency and openness in the functioning of the Waqf board and had made some recommendations about changes to be made. But the BJP has the only intention of taking over land under the garb of this bill. Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant said even Hindu temples have parcels of land, churches in India have parcels of land so Gurudwaras and Jain temples. Are you going to take over their land too, he asked.
He said when the bill to abrogate Article 370 was introduced his party had supported it. " Now it has been more than five years tell me how many Kashmiri Pandits have got back their land," he asked. "The home minister should inform the nation."