THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Seeking to clear the air over the controversy surrounding the reconstitution of the Kerala State Waqf Board, Chief Minister V D Satheesan said the appointment of two non-Muslims to the Board had been approved by the previous LDF government and was also explicitly stated in the then government order on the board formation.
He was responding to queries on the state government’s reported move to reconstitute the Waqf Board in line with the Centre’s Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025. The Opposition LDF had taken strong exception to the UDF government informing the Supreme Court that it will implement Section 14 of the Union government’s Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, which it said was tantamount to sacrificing minority interests.
Satheesan accused Leader of Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan of engaging in communal propaganda to turn the Muslim community against the Congress-led UDF government. “The LDF government had given an assurance in the order that the appointments will be made at a later stage from among public figures and the Bar Council,” Satheesan said.
The appointments were not made at that point as the Bar Council elections were underway, he said. Satheesan argued that by expressly committing to fill these two statutory categories, the previous government had effectively acknowledged that the remaining appointees would necessarily be non-Muslims.
“Following this, as many as four petitions were filed in the High Court saying that non-Muslims were not appointed, no representation was given to backward Muslim communities and that ineligible persons were appointed,” he said. The chief minister clarified that the government had told the court that it will constitute the board after examining the issues and urged that the petitions should be rejected. Later, the Waqf Board also echoed the government stand. “The Waqf Board had told the Supreme Court and the High Court that it will comply with the provisions of Section 14,” he said.
Meanwhile, the CPM rejected the arguments raised by Satheesan. Former minister P Rajeeve alleged that the CM was lying about the inclusion of non-Muslim members in the Board and had adopted JP’s stand on the issue. Rajeeve said the previous LDF government had left two vacancies on the Board unfilled because the matter was pending before the SC.