Kerala to convene Waqf Ministers’ meeting

Kerala government opposes proposed amendments to Waqf Bill, plans meeting with southern States' Waqf Ministers and Board chairpersons.

The Kerala government will convene a meeting of Waqf Ministers and Waqf Board chairpersons of southern States soon.

Announcing the decision to convene the meeting at a conclave on proposed amendments to the Waqf Bill held in Kochi on Tuesday, V. Abdurahiman, State Minister for Waqf, said the government would provide a handbook on the fallout of the proposed amendments to all the MPs from Kerala.

The State government viewed the provisions of the Bill as an onslaught on the Constitutional provisions which guaranteed the rights of minority communities to manage the affairs of their religious institutions. The Union government’s attempts to amend the Bill shall leave far-reaching consequences on the Muslim community of the country, he said.

The opposition of the State government to the proposed Bill would be submitted to the Prime Minister, the President, and the central Waqf Board, he said.

The meeting, attended by Muslim clerics, MPs and MLAs, members of the Kerala Waqf Board, and representatives of various organisations, passed a resolution urging the Union government to recall the proposed amendment to the Waqf Bill and desist from attempts to amend it.

The meeting also decided to seek an audience with the chairperson of the Joint Parliamentary Committee, which is considering the Bill. The suggestions that came up at the meeting on Tuesday would be forwarded to the State government, which in turn, would send it to the Union government, it was decided.

Harris Beeran, A.A. Rahim, and Hibi Eden, MPs, Muhammed Muhsin, T.J. Vinod, Ahamad Devarkovil  and P. Ubaidulla, MLAs, attended.