Waqf board only executed govt’s orders: Rasheed Ali

Kozhikode: Former chairman of Kerala State Wakf Board, Rasheed Ali Thangal, said there were some deliberate attempts to mislead in connection with the Munambam issue. He made the comments in an article written for Chandrika, the mouthpiece of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML). He stated that the claim that matters pertaining to the issue occurred during his tenure as chairman is part of such deliberate attempts.
In the article, he said that since the waqf board is an extension of the state govt, the board can only follow the instructions given by govt. The article goes on to say that the waqf board only executed the instructions of the govt based on the Nissar commission report, which was appointed when V S Achuthanandan was the chief minister, on Sept 10, 2007.
He said that there were 12 matters govt instructed to inquire about, and one among them was related to Munambam. This was about the waqf title deed given in the name of Farook College president Khan Bahadur Unnikammu by Muhammed Siddique Seit in 1950. The earnings from it cannot be used for anything other than education in the college. The deed also stated that if, for any reason, the college ceases to exist, then the land has to be returned.
In 2008, it was Paloli Muhammed Kutty who was the minister for waqf. The commission functioned for 33 months with an expense of Rs 40 lakh. The reference to Farook College appeared in the commission's 15th report. The report, with the recommendation for action on the land in Munambam by the Nissar commission, was approved by the cabinet chaired by Achuthanandan in 2010, the article said.
It added that an order was issued for further action the following week as well. It was govt that directed there shouldn't be a delay in reclaiming waqf land. The govt used to inquire about it from time to time. In fact, the appointment of the commission itself was a controversy then. It was appointed targeting many individuals, the article said. It also added that when the new Left govt came to power, it acted against the stand of the commission.