IUML’s Sadikali Thangal responds to row over Kerala Waqf Board representation
The party’s Kerala president said groups dissatisfied with the reconstituted board could go to court, while arguing that other government bodies could offer places to those left out.
Indian Union Muslim League Kerala president Syed Sadikali Shihab Thangal responded in Kozhikode on Sunday, October 18, to criticism of representation on the state’s reconstituted Waqf Board. People with grievances could approach a court, he said, according to The Hindu. His remarks address a dispute over which Muslim organisations have places on the board.
Thangal said all Muslim organisations had been given representation. He also said people left off the Waqf Board could be considered for other government bodies, naming the Hajj Committee and the Madrasa Welfare Fund Board, which he said had yet to be reconstituted. Those were possibilities he raised, rather than appointments he announced.
Why the board’s representation is disputed
The Hindu reported criticism from a faction of Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama led by Sunni scholar Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliar. The faction said it had not received fair representation. The dispute also includes allegations that Sunni organisations managing a large number of Waqf properties, including the Kanthapuram faction, were denied proper representation.
Responding to those concerns, Thangal said the board would address them without discrimination. He pointed to the Hajj Committee’s chairman as a representative of the Kanthapuram faction and said the United Democratic Front government had left that arrangement in place. His reference to the committee concerned an existing post, separate from the future appointments he suggested for people left off the Waqf Board.
Thangal also said the reconstituted Waqf Board included two representatives associated with Samastha. He identified one as the board’s chairman, whom he described as a prominent member of the organisation, and named Musthafal Faisy as the other. Those descriptions are Thangal’s account of the board’s composition; the full membership was not independently established in The Hindu’s report.
Thangal’s role in Kerala politics
The Indian Union Muslim League’s Kerala State website describes the IUML as a political party recognised by India’s Election Commission and as having a prominent presence in Kerala. Thangal’s response therefore comes from a state party leader, while the complaint concerns representation on a public board. The Hindu reported that he directed those dissatisfied with its reconstitution toward the courts.
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Sources and context
- IUML Keralam chief Sadikali Thangal downplays row over Waqf board reconstitutionThe Hindu
- Indian Union Muslim League | Kerala — AboutIndian Union Muslim League Kerala State
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.
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