PDP Calls on J-K Assembly Speaker to Table Waqf Board Resolution in House Agenda
Waheed Para stresses faith-linked issue deserves legislative debate, seeks custodianship transfer to MMU
SRINAGAR, Oct 23: The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has called on the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Speaker, Abdul Rahim Rather, to exercise his discretion and include a private member resolution concerning the J&K Waqf Board in the House agenda.
PDP leader Waheed Para said the resolution, which seeks the restoration of the Waqf Board and the transfer of its custodianship to the Muttahid-e-Majlis-e-Ulema (MMU), was dropped during the Assembly ballot. He described the matter as a “sensitive, faith linked issue that merits discussion and a return to local religious leadership.”
Para wrote on X, “Our resolution to restore the J&K Waqf Board and hand over its custodianship to the Muttahid-e-Majlis-e-Ulema was dropped in the Assembly ballot. We will formally urge Speaker A.R. Rather Sahab to use his discretion to include it in legislative business. Waqf is a sensitive, faith linked issue that deserves debate and return to local religious leadership under Mirwaiz.”
The appeal comes as the nine day autumn session of the J&K Assembly commenced. Earlier, the Speaker had admitted two private member resolutions moved by Para, including one calling for the restoration of the Waqf Board and its management by the MMU, a conglomerate of religious bodies led by Hurriyat chairman and Kashmir’s chief cleric, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.
The MMU has repeatedly expressed concerns over the 2025 Waqf Amendment Act, arguing that it undermines Muslim control over religious endowments and is discriminatory. The organization has asserted that any attempt to dilute Muslim authority over these sacred assets or compromise their historic protection is “unacceptable to the community.”
