Waqf minister claims receiving suggestions on Shia-Sunni waqf board merger, seeks legal advice

LUCKNOW: State minister for Waqf and Haj, Mohsin Raza, on Sunday claimed receiving public suggestions for merging Uttar Pradesh (UP) Shia Central Waqf Board and

UP Sunni Central Waqf Board

. These he said have been forwarded to the law department for checking their feasibility in application. Amidst news that the UP government is mulling over merging of the two Waqf (endowment) boards, Raza cleared that the UP government had no role currently and the state minister was only seeking legal advice on suggestions he had received.

"In the last one month I have received a couple of such suggestions questioning the need for two Waqf boards in UP when 28 other states have only one. I have forwarded these suggestions to the law department and if it can be done, the same would be proposed to the government, as it is only departmental at this stage. If legal advice is against it, the suggestions will be shelved altogether," Raza told TOI.

The minister had previously sent notices to both waqf boards for dissolution and has recommended CBI investigation into alleged corruption of the boards said, "Even if the merger happens, it will stop large amount of money based corruption. With just one '

Muslim Waqf Board

' having one infrastructure will also save money,"

Quoting the

Waqf Act 1995

, Raza said that Shia or Sunni communities should have at least 15 per cent share in total Waqf units for constitution of separate boards, which is not true in UP's case. "In three different documentations of the

Shia board

, it has claimed having around 7,500 properties, around 6,000 in the document uploaded on the internet and around 3,000 properties claimed with the Central Waqf Council (CWC). The Sunni board has around 1 lakh 24 thousand properties which is a huge disparity," he said.

Sparing no words against the waqf minister, chairperson of the UP Shia Waqf Board in a press statement retaliated, "It is because the minster is uneducated that he makes such illegal remarks." According to

Waseem Rizvi

, chairperson of the Shia Waqf Board, "Both the boards were made in different times and it was because Shia waqf at that time in 1941 was 15% more than the total waqf in state that is was formed separately."

Rizvi added further, "It is because the minister does not know fully that he has undermined the clause of taking not just the number of waqfs but also the income generated from them as points for keeping two boards. Under this, the Shia waqf generates income which is more than 15%." Rizvi also claimed that the current governing body of the Shia Waqf Board was formed in 2015 with a five year term to last till 2020 and under the Waqf constitution, there was no provision to dissolve it before expiry of term.