Supreme Court to hear 73 pleas against Waqf (Amendment) Act today

A three-judge bench comprising of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna, Justice Sanjay Kumar, and Justice KV Viswanathan will hear the petitions.

According to reports, 73 petitions have been listed before the court.

The hearing of the petitions is expected to begin at 2pm.

The petitions also include two filed by Hindu parties against the original Waqf Act of 1995, while others question the validity of the recent amendments. Some petitioners have also sought an interim stay on the Act while the court decides the case, reported India Today.

The petitions that have challenged the Act contend that it is discriminatory against Muslims.

The Centre has filed a caveat in the case.

The caveat is filed in the Supreme Court or the High Courts to ensure no order is passed without hearing it.

Murshidabad and South 24 Parganas Protests

After days of tension in Bengal's Murshidabad, fresh violence erupted at Bhangar in South 24 Parganas on Monday during a protest against the Centre's Waqf (Amendment) Act.

Viral videos on social media showed police motorbikes were torched, and a police bus was overturned with its windshield ripped out.

A large contingent of police marched on the streets of Bhangar to contain violence.

The cops had to resort to lathi-charging to disperse protesters, at least one of whom was also injured.

The Indian Secular Front (ISF) supporters, moving towards the Ramlila Maidan in central Kolkata to attend an anti-Waqf law rally to be addressed by party leader Naushad Siddique, resorted to violence after the cops denied permission.

According to reports, the protesters clashed with the police, leading to injuries and the arson of police vehicles.

Siddique has, meanwhile, called the new law "an attack on Muslims and assault on the Constitution".

Tension escalated when the crowd attempted to break through the barricades.

A senior cop told the media that some police personnel were injured in the clashes, and eyewitnesses said the cops held a lathi-charge to disperse protesters, at least one of whom was also injured.

The ISF leader also pointed to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's claim that her government would not implement the new Waqf laws and asked why then its protest had been halted.

Anti-Waqf violence in Murshidabad

The fresh tension comes after massive violence in the Muslim-dominated Murshidabad district, in which three people were killed, railway tracks were blocked, and there was arson and vandalism.

Over 200 people have been arrested in connection with that violence so far.

Attacked by marauding mobs, Hindus from villages fled in boats and via roads to the adjacent district of Malda as Islamic violence claimed three lives and destroyed properties.

West Bengal Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari on Monday demanded a probe into the Islamic violence and riots that hit the Murshidabad district, causing three deaths, by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

West Bengal Police have now said that the situation is under control, and prohibitory orders are in place to prevent large gatherings.

Videos from ferry ghats showed hordes of Hindu families, including women, children and elderly, fleeing to the safety of the Malda district.

Modi Slams Congress Over Waqf Act

Modi on Monday lashed out at the Congress over the Waqf Act, which he claimed to be the "biggest proof" of the primary opposition party's appeasement for fundamentalists.

Speaking in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, Modi said, "Congress has only pleased some fundamentalists. The rest of the society remained miserable, uneducated, and poor. The biggest proof of this evil policy of Congress is the Waqf Act."

"The Congress stabbed the dream that Baba Saheb Ambedkar had seen, the provision for social justice that he had made in the Constitution, and turned the provisions of that Constitution into a means of appeasement," he said.