Yogi gets control of Waqf Boards

With the term of the Uttar Pradesh Shia and Sunni Waqf Board now over, the control of the two boards will rest with the state government for the time being. Utar Pradesh Minister for Minority Affairs assured that elections to the boards were only delayed due to the present lockdown.

Minister Mohsin Raza said that the work of the two boards will be looked after by CEOs appointed by the government and elections will be held later due to the lockdown.

The tenure of the Sunni Waqf Board was completed on March 31, and the term of the Shia Waqf Board was also completed on Tuesday.

He said: "Both the boards were constituted during the previous Samajwadi Party regime and large-scale irregularities have been committed by both the boards while dealing with Waqf properties. Muttawalis (caretakers) of Waqf properties have been appointed without adhering to rules. The government has already recommended a CBI inquiry into this."

According to the information received, all the files and documents related to the Supreme Court's decision on the temple-mosque dispute in Ayodhya and the consent for the construction of a mosque on five acres of land at any other place in Ayodhya are presently with the outgoing chairman of Sunni board, Zufar Farooqi.

Farooqi said he was willing to hand over the concerned files to the designated authority of the state government.

Zufar Farooqi was the chairman of the Sunni Waqf Board for the past 10 consecutive years. He became the Chairman of the Board for the first time in the year 2010 during the tenure of BSP. After that, when the SP government was formed in 2012, he remained in his post. Then in 2015 he became the chairman again and in 2017 he continued to run the board despite the formation of the BJP government.

On the other hand, Shia Waqf Board Chairman Wasim Rizvi took over his post in 2015 and continued to work thereafter. He also did not leave his post after the BJP came to power. Wasim Rizvi made headlines with his pro-Ram temple stand.