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| Glad to defend Wakf decision: PDP to NC | | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Dec 11: Vowing to defend its decision on specified Wakfs and Specified Wakf properties boards in court and other forums, the Peoples Democratic Party today challenged the National Conference to bring subject at the floor of legislature for discussion and decision. It may be mentioned here that the Wakf issue is a major contentious issue defining political strengths of the two rival parties in this Muslim majority state.
A spokesman of the PDP said party would welcome a scrutiny of the decision in any forum and would gladly submit its views before the Court. He was responding to the press reports on High Court notice to former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, his deputy Muzaffar Hussain Baig and senior leader Nayeem Akhter on a petition filed by National Conference leaders Dr Farooq Abdullah, Abdul Rahim Rather and Ali Mohammad Sagar.
Asking NC leaders and Ministers Rather and Sagar to step down from Wakaf Boards on moral grounds, the spokesman said the decision by the PDP –Congress coalition had received an over whelming support by the legislature because it was felt that Wakaf properties in Kashmir had been managed more or less like a personal estate by the Muslim Auqaf Trust (MAT) which was not open to any kind of scrutiny or accountability.
The spokesman said since Abdul Rahim Rather and Ali Mohammed Sagar are Ministers in the present coalition government and Dr Farooq Abdullah President of ruling National Conference it becomes necessary for the state government to make its stand clear on the Specified Wakafs and Specified Wakaf properties Board presently headed by Omar Abdullah. He said if scraping of the Wakf Board is on its agenda the government must bring the subject on the floor of the state Legislature for a discussion and decision. Ironically, Rather and Sagar both are on the present Board of Directors of the Muslim Wakaf Board that they have challenged, the spokesman pointed out and said as a first step they should step down from it on moral grounds. The spokesman said the efforts made by Dr Farooq Abdullah and his colleagues to restore the properties to the defunct Muslim Auqaf Trust even after their petition was dismissed by the High Court speaks volumes about the sense of loss they suffer from this account. He said the National Conference leaders like Abdul Rahim Rather and Ali Mohammed Sagar were not satisfied with the changed law even though they were on the Board of directors of the present Specified Wakafs and Specified Wakaf properties Board.
Reacting to the allegation of the Sagar that the decision to establish the Muslim Wakf Board was an act of ‘vendetta’, the spokesman said the PDP does not want to bring individuals into the debate but would want it to focus on the institutions instead. Otherwise, there is a lot that could be said about Sagar and others who have been benefited from the Muslim Auqaf Trust. The spokesman said the renewed interest of Dr Farooq and his friends in the return of the Muslim community’s properties to their family trust were not surprising. They realize that the Specified Wakafs and Specified Wakaf properties Board is a much richer institution now with a full-fledged university and a nursing College, Ambulance service and much netter amenities at various Dargahs run by it.
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