UDF’s position on Waqf sacrifices minority interests, says Pinarayi Vijayan

The United Democratic Front (UDF) government’s stand in the Supreme Court that it will implement Section 14 of the Union’s Uniform Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development (UMEED) Act or the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 will sacrifice minority interests and adversely affect the writ petitions on the matter, which are being heard by the Pinija High Court on Tuesday.

In a statement, Mr. Vijayan welcomed the Supreme Court’s reversal of the Supreme Court’s interim order imposing the trustee rule on the Waqf Board. However, he said it was worrying that the state government reiterated its stand taken last week in the Supreme Court that section 14 of the new Waqf Act also in the Supreme Court. The amended law mandated the inclusion of two non-Muslim members in the Waqf Board, a move against which several cases are pending in the Supreme Court. The previous LDF government did not include non-Muslim members in the council.

In an intervention petition filed in the Supreme Court during the tenure of the LDF government, he also took a clear stand that non-Muslims should not be appointed to the Waqf Board, he said. To this effect, he quoted a section of the petition: “There is no justification for the inclusion of non-Muslim members in the Waqf Boards and there is a strong legal case that such inclusion of non-Muslims is violative of Articles 14, 25 and 26 of the Constitution of India. Under the amended section 14 of the Act, the members of the Muslim community sub-section (c.) shall be minority members of the Muslim community. (1) of section 14, all seven members may be non-Muslims and are left to the State Government to nominate members of its choice to the Waqf Board”.

Rumor spreading

Mr. Vijayan said that the UDF government is pretending to be the protector of minorities while betraying the minorities under the agenda of the Sangh Parivar. “Those connected to the UDF are spreading rumors that the current members of the Waqf Board have some disqualifications. Such observations were made in an affidavit filed on behalf of the state government in the Supreme Court. If the members of the Waqf Board have disqualifications, the government has the power and duty to act as per the law. But they have not taken any such action as prescribed by law,” even by creating a smoke screen and misleading the court. he said.

Mr. Vijayan alleged that these moves are part of a conspiracy to capture the Waqf Board after the change of power in the state. “When the LDF government came to power in 2016, the Waqf Board appointed by the previous UDF government was allowed to continue till its tenure in 2019. The UDF is now trying to carry out political sabotage in these statutory bodies. The UDF has degraded itself to the point of passing a Sangh Parivar-sponsored law that challenges the rights of minorities, the very intent of Waqf and the purity of the Wafq Act.” we are extending all possible support to the efforts of the current Waqf Board to ensure that the legal battles initiated by Kerala are not weakened,” he said.

Published – 21 Jul 2026 22:48 IST