MALAPPURAM: The UDF government and the Muslim League are facing growing political backlash over their stand before the Kerala High Court in petitions challenging the legality of the Kerala Waqf Board. The petitions, including one by BJP leader Shone George, argue that the Board is invalid as it was constituted without appointing non-Muslim members as required under the amended Waqf law. The government’s support of this argument has drawn strong criticism from Muslim organisations and political parties, which accuse it of aiding the BJP’s agenda.
The controversy intensified after the Waqf Board moved the Supreme Court on Friday against the HC’s interim order restraining it from taking major policy decisions. Both factions of Samastha Kerala Jem-Iyyathul Ulama, the Indian National League (INL) as well as the Welfare Party of India (WPI) have criticised the government’s stand.
Waqf Board chairman K S Hamza alleged that the government’s position was an act of political retaliation against the board uploading details of Munambam Waqf land records on the UMEED portal.
“It is the responsibility of the government to appoint additional members, including non-Muslims, to the board if required under amended rules. Instead, when the HC sought the state’s response to Shone George’s plea, the Advocate General supported it. It is now clear that the Congress and Muslim League, which earlier opposed appointing non-Muslims to Waqf Boards, have changed stand. The League is misleading the community,” Hamza told TNIE.
He claimed the government was using the BJP’s petition to remove the existing Board as it could not dissolve it directly.
WPI state treasurer Sajeed Khalid said the government’s stand would ultimately strengthen BJP’s campaign against the Waqf system.
“While the INDIA bloc has opposed the amended Waqf law, Congress in Kerala has failed to clarify its position. It has not stated whether it supports appointing non-Muslims to the board,” he said.
INL state general secretary Kasim Irikkur said the League, which opposed the Waqf Act 2025 has now effectively supported Shone’s petition. The minister’s claim that the Left government illegally constituted the board only strengthens this suspicion,” he said.
Samastha joint secretary and Waqf Board member Umar Faizi Mukkam said if the government believed non-Muslim members should be appointed, it could do so without seeking to invalidate the existing Board. “By supporting the plea, the government is playing into BJP’s hands. The League is trying to evade the issue, but the community is watching,” he said. Responding to the criticism, Muslim League general secretary P M A Salam reiterated the party’s opposition to appointing non-Muslims to the Board. He said the state’s submission before the HC was limited to examining the Board’s legal validity.
“The government has not told the court that non-Muslims should be appointed to the Waqf Board. It has only argued that if the Board’s constitution does not satisfy legal and technical requirements, the matter can be examined,” Salam said.
