No room for all, but no fight either: Kerala says Muslim groups settle Waqf board row

Thiruvananthapuram: Minority Welfare Minister N. Samsudheen has claimed that a consensus has been reached among the Muslim groups that had raised concerns over their lack of representation on Kerala's reconstituted State Waqf Board. He, however, declined to disclose the details.
The concerns were raised by the Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliyar faction of the Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama after it did not get representation on the reconstituted board. The minister said appointments had to be made under different categories, and since only two or three posts were available in the general category, not every group could be accommodated.
Last Friday, the government dissolved the board headed by K.S. Hamsa, which had been constituted by the previous LDF government in March, and appointed a new nine-member body even though the earlier board had more than four years of its tenure left. The new board is headed by IUML leader M.C. Mayin Haji.
IUML state president Sayyid Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal had convened a meeting with leaders of various Muslim groups a day earlier. Samsudheen said the Kerala High Court had approved the reconstituted board and had not intervened despite two petitions challenging it.
Those who could not be included on the board would be considered for other committees, including those related to minority welfare and Haj, he said. He described this as the stand of the department, the party and the UDF.
The new board is headed by IUML leader M.C. Mayin Haji. Its other members are IUML leader and MLA Kurukkoli Moideen, Musthafa Faizi, Siras D Capsi, Thodiyoor Muhammed Kunju Maulavi, Sajna Firoz, Jaseem Sabaha, Dr Abdul Majeed Swalahi and C. Madina Begham.