Amaravati: The NDA government in Andhra Pradesh has reconstituted the State Waqf Board with the appointment of eight members on Friday. This comes a week after dissolving the earlier Board constituted last year by the then government of YSR Congress Party.
Minorities Welfare Department issued a Government Order (G.O) appointing eight members under Sub-Section (9) of Section 14 and Section 21 of the Waqf Act, 1995 read with amendment 2013 (Act 27 of 2013).
Two legislators of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) are among the eight members appointed by the government. Member of Legislative Council Md Ruhullah and Mutawalli Shaik Khaja are the members appointed under the elected members category.
The government also nominated TDP leader Abdul Aziz, Shia scholar Haji Mukarram Hussain and Sunni scholar Mohammad Ismail Baig. Abdul Aziz was already named as chairman of Waqf Board by the TDP. His election appears to be a mere formality.
Three other members were nominated by invoking section 14 (3). They are MLA Moahmmed Naseer, Syed Dawood Basha Baqavi and Shaik Akram.
The Minorities Welfare Department on November 30 issued a G.O, withdrawing the G.O. issued in October last year, constituting the Waqf Board. The then government of YSR Congress Party had constituted the 11-member Waqf Board. Three of them were elected members while the remaining were nominated.
On a petition challenging the process followed to constitute the Waqf Board, the Andhra Pradesh High Court on November 1, 2023 stayed the election of the chairperson of the State Waqf Board.
The G.O. 75 issued on November 30 that the Chief Executive Officer of the State Waqf Board brought to the government’s attention the prolonged non-functioning of the Board and the pendency of writ petitions questioning the legality of G.O. Ms. No. 47 to resolve the litigations and prevent an administrative vacuum.
Minister for Minority Welfare N. Md. Farooq had stated that due to legal issues, there was vacuum in the functioning of the Waqf Board and to overcome, the coalition government issued a new GO, withdrawing the earlier GO.
The TDP-led coalition government reconstituting Waqf Board has come as a big blow to those who had claimed earlier that Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has abolished Waqf Board.
As some news channels called it a ‘surgical strike’ by Chandrababu Naidu and it was widely shared by many including BJP central leader Amit Malviya, the coalition government came out with a clarification the State Waqf Board was dissolved due to certain legal issues and announced that a new Board will be constituted at the earliest.
The Fact Check Wing of the state government posted the clarification on ‘X’ while reacting to a post by BJP national executive member Amit Malviya.
“Andhra Pradesh government strikes down the Waqf Board. There is no provision in the Constitution, which supports the existence of one in a secular India,” Malviya had posted on social media platform while reacting to a news channel’s report.
BJP and Jana Sena are partners in TDP led coalition government in the state. As the media reports and the comments of BJP leaders were sending wrong signals to Muslims, the government acted quickly to counter the misinformation.
