Traces history of Muslim Waqf Board becoming a government-run body under PDP’s rule in 2003. It was a big mistake , price of which is being paid by Muslims in the Valley
J K News Today
Srinagar , October 6: A history was created on Friday when Apni Party chief Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari offered prayers at one of the holiest Muslim shrines in Kashmir – Hazratbal on the banks of Dal lake , wherein he made several messages all at once , exposing fault lines in the religious and political affairs of Muslims in the Valley. The most important of it was that Hazratbal shrine is not a monopoly of any political party and the Waqf Board is in a mess because its autonomy has been taken away from it and the politicians are running it as per their whims and fancies .
Altaf Bukhari , distressed by the acquisition of Muslim Waqf Board by the government way back in 2003 under the PDP rule in Jammu and Kashmir, did not mince his words in blaming the erstwhile ruling party for holding it responsible for bringing Waqf Board under Government’s control , to settle its scores with its rival political group National Conference. The larger point that he made was that the political rivalry of the two parties , National Conference and PDP , made Kashmiri Muslims’ religious institutions . And one of that was the Muslim Waqf Board , and the advantage of which has been taken by the current regime which has played with the religious shrines and its management in most unacceptable way .
Expressing profound concern over the mismanagement at the J&K Waqf Board, Bukhari said that the “PDP was responsible for rendering this prestigious institution a mess by bringing it under the direct control of the government during its rule in 2003. He stated that the ruling party at the time, led by Muftis, deliberately altered the autonomous stature of the Waqf Board, placing it under government control to settle political scores with its rival political party —the National Conference.”
Apni Party President made these remarks while speaking to reporters at dargah Hazratbal, following paying his obeisance at the revered shrine today.
He said, “The PDP, led by the Muftis, made a grave mistake during its tenure in government in 2003 by bringing the Waqf Board under government control, and the party did it deliberately to settle its score with its rival NC. Today, this prestigious institution grapples with a dire state of mismanagement from top to toe.”
Furthermore, Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari strongly criticized the recent action taken by the Waqf Board authorities, which suspended several officers and staff members of Hazratbal Dargah Sharief, alleging negligence in their duties.
Pertinently, on the eve of Eid-ul-Milad-un-Nabi (SAW), the Chairperson of the J&K Waqf Board, Syed Darakhshan Andrabi, suspended these officers and staff members, citing “grave negligence in their duties.”
Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari criticized the decision to suspend the employees, stating, “If any negligence has been observed at the shrine, those in leadership positions should be held responsible, not the underprivileged employees. The leaders at the top should acknowledge their role in any mismanagement at the holy shrine and should not make the poor employees scapegoats for their inability to manage the Waqf.”
