Chennai/IBNS: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Thursday said his party DMK will challenge the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, which has been cleared by the Lok Sabha, in the Supreme Court.

Wearing a black ribbon in protest against the contentious bill, Stalin, who heads the DMK, made the remark on the floor of the assembly.

The Chief Minister said as quoted by Deccan Chronicle, "A majority of the political parties in India opposed the Waqf (Amendment) Bill. It is condemnable that the Bill has been passed in Lok Sabha despite widespread opposition to its provisions. Though the Bill has been passed, nobody should overlook the number of votes against it."

"This is an attempt to disturb communal harmony in the country. Let me tell this House that the DMK will challenge the Bill in the Supreme Court," Stalin announced.

The bill, which was tabled by the Modi government in the Lok Sabha, was cleared by the lower house of Parliament after hours long debate in the wee hours of Thursday.

The bill was passed after a 12-hour marathon debate with 288 votes in its favour.

It was opposed by 232 members present and voting in the Lok Sabha.

The hours-long debate over the bill went on throughout Wednesday and witnessed a stiff confrontation between the treasury and opposition benches.

While the government claims the bill will be beneficial for the minority, the Opposition calls it "anti-Muslim".

Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Wednesday said several important public properties including the Parliament building would have been taken over by the Waqf board had the previous Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government continued its rule.

Rijiju, who is also the Minority Affairs Minister, says, "A case has been going on since 1970 in Delhi. Delhi Waqf board had claimed several properties including CGO Complex, Parliament building. While the matter was subjudice, the then UPA government had handed over the entire land to the Waqf board by notifying."

"If we hadn't brought an amendment bill, 123 properties including this Parliament building would have been claimed by the Waqf board. We have no idea how many properties would have been notified if the Narendra Modi government had not come and UPA continued its rule," he added.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah presented a long list of properties that he said were given for Waqf and said the proposed changes would stop irregular land grabbing.

"Properties in (Delhi's) Lutyens zone went to Waqf, and they started taking over government land... In Tamil Nadu, a 400-year-old temple property was declared as Waqf's. Land for a five-star establishment was given to Waqf for 12,000 a month," he said. 

The amended Waqf bill, he said, would be instrumental in stopping this.

"This bill will protect property. Like ASI property, Tribal land, private property and for Waqf, you can only donate private, personal property and not the land of the community (village). This bill will bring transparency," he said. 

Hitting out at the government, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said as quoted by NDTV, " Today the condition of minorities has become such the government will give a 'certificate 'of their religion. Will they ask for certificates from other religions also... whether they have completed five years? Why is this being asked of Muslims? Why is the government interfering in religion?"

Samajwadi Party chief and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday slammed the government in the Lok Sabha saying the ruling saffron outfit does not have the right policies and intentions on the issue.

He said the bill has been made to hide the failures of the current regime.

"Whenever the BJP introduces a new bill, they are hiding their failure," Yadav was quoted as saying by UNI news agency in the Lok Sabha.

The bill will now be tabled in the Rajya Sabha by the government for a debate. As per reports, eight hours have been alloted for the debate in the upper house of Parliament.