By Faisal Fareed, TwoCircles.net,
Lucknow: Politicians, retired high court judge, builders and eminent lawyers are in the running for the post of chairmanship in waqf board. The waqf boards acts as the custodian of properties registered as waqfs owned by individuals, institutions and muslim organisations.
The race for chairmanship in these boards have gained momentum after the election of members on March 8. Each board has 13 members which include five nominations from the state government. The members then elect a chairman from their panel. With nomination factor in practice the ruling government has a leverage in election of the chairman. In the outgoing board former president of Aligarh Muslim University Students Union (AMUSU) Hafiz Mohd Usman of Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) corporator Waseem Rizvi were chairman of Sunni and Shia Waqf Boards respectively.
For the Shia Central Board of Waqfs the names of Justice (retd.) Syed Haider Abbas Raza who has also served as Lokayukta of Uttrakhand, former MP and owner of Rizvi Builders, Akhter Husain Rizvi and outgoing Chairman, and local BSP Corporator, Waseem Rizvi are doing rounds. The prominent members in the board include former MP Mukhtar Abbas, Abbas Ali Zaidi and Shadab Fatima both MLAs of Samajwadi Party.
In Sunni Central Board of Waqfs the prominent names doing the round include Shahnawaz Rana an eminent lawyer besides a social activist Zafar Farooqui from Sitapur. The board has 13 members including Mohd Mujtaba Siddiqui and Farhat Hasan both MLA belonging to Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Qaiser Jahan and Begum Tabassum Hasan both MPs of BSP. Shahnawaz Rana and Imran Mabood Khan from state bar council quota besides Zafar Farooqui and Adnan Farrukh Shah from Mutawwalli quota. The remaining five members are nominated by the state government including one IAS muslim sunni officer.
Lately these waqf boards have assumed significance due to spiralling land prices. Most of the waqf properties are situated in prime locations resulting a scurry for cornering their control.