Darakshan Andrabi becomes first BJP leader to head J-K Wakf Board

In Jammu and Kashmir, for the first time, the State Waqf Board will be headed by a leader of the BJP. Elected chairperson Dr Darakshan Andrabi, a national executive member of the BJP, is also the first woman to lead the Board. The other members of the new Board included Syed Mohammad Hussain, an Islamic scholar; writer and columnist Ghulam Nabi Haleem; prominent journalist Sohail Kazmi; and Nawab Din, the Regional Director, Survey and Land Records, Udhampur. They were appointed members by the Centre last month, for a period of five years.

After being elected, she said the “pivotal’’ responsibility does not include only construction and maintenance of religious places. “Creating assets like schools, universities and hospitals, such as Narayana Hospital and Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, are worth emulating,’’ she said, adding the Board’s utilities will be beneficial to all people irrespective of colour, creed or religion. “The actions of the new body are going to be louder than its words. People are going to feel the difference after it works for some time,’’ she said.  

The Waqf Board manages Muslim shrines, mosques and educational institutes, Until 2019, when J&K’s special status was revoked and the erstwhile state was divided into two UTs – J&K and Ladakh – the Waqf Board was headed by the Chief Minister who would also keep the Hajj and Auqaf portfolio. Subsequently, the J&K Waqf Act, 2001, and the Specified Waqf Act, 2004, were repealed, paving way for the Central Waqf Act, 1995, to be extended to the UT.. The J&K Wakf Board looks after around 32,000 properties, including shrines, mosques, educational institutions across the UT. 

PDP spokesperson and former MLA, Firdous Tak, termed Andrabi’s election as Waqf Board chairperson as “BJP taking the next step to control the religious beliefs and practices” in J&K.