Jawwad ‘wins’,SP expels Shia waqf board chief

The post of board chairman is important because he is the custodian of Shia waqf properties. Since Lucknow was the epicentre of Shias with nawabs ruling the state,huge properties are under the board’s control. There are 13 members in the board,six elected and seven nominated.

In a statement,state SP spokesperson Rajendra Choudhary said Rizvi had been expelled for six years for indiscipline and anti-party activities. “It is a collective decision of the party,” said Choudhary. He did not cite any incident of anti-party activity by Rizvi,but also refused to admit that the decision had been taken under pressure from Kalbe Jawwad.

Rizvi,who started his career as a municipal corporator from Kashmiri Mohalla in the old city of Lucknow,was once very close to Jawwad. His first term as chairman of SCBW was during the previous SP regime,headed by Mulayam Singh Yadav. Later,he switched loyalty to the BSP and also fell out with Jawwad. Subsequently,Jawwad succeeded in getting his relative Kamaluddin Akbar elected as chairman,but his tenure was short lived and Rizvi again regained the post.

Since then,Rizvi and Jawwad have been bitter rivals. Rizvi had issued notices to Jawwad,who is caretaker of two important waqf properties in Lucknow. One charge was that Jawwad was responsible for selling land for graves for a premium at a graveyard under his caretakership. The second related to the property of Sajjadia Waqf,also under Jawwad,Rizvi allotted to the poor.

The Shia cleric did not reply to the notices. On the contrary,he organised a protest march and held rallies with his supporters demanding Rizvi’s resignation. Jawwad also resigned from the post of Imam-e-Juma as protest.

The Akhilesh Yadav government then forced Rizvi to resign. A CB-CID inquiry was ordered in the sale and purchase of waqf properties. Waseem was stripped of his ministerial rank. However,in accordance with the Wakf Act,he continued as officiating chairman until a new chairman was elected.

Irked by this,Jawwad gave a call for a march to the CM’s residence after Alvida Juma prayers on Friday. To prevent the matter from escalating further,the SP expelled Rizvi.