Capt. Amarinder Singh is misusing his authority-Khaira

Chandigarh (Gurpreet) Capt. Amarinder Singh is misusing his authority to appoint non-Punjabi Muslims to the important positions and recruitments in the Waqf Board Punjab, this is not only unfair but amounts to gross discrimination with the local Muslims- Khaira.

Addressing a press conference at Chandigarh today Sukhpal Singh Khaira MLA and former Leader of Opposition accompanied by Muslim leaders of Punjab condemned the discriminatory attitude of Captain Amarinder Singh against Muslims of the state, while making important appointments/recruitments to the Waqf Board.

Khaira said Captain Amarinder Singh had appointed a non-Punjabi Muslim Mr Junaid Raza as Chairman of Punjab Waqf board, who is Nawab of Rampur (Uttar Pradesh) and a close feudal friend of the Chief Minister. Khaira said this appointment was not only unlawful but also amounted to gross discrimination with the entire Muslim community of Punjab, as he should have appointed local leader of the Muslims to the important post of Chairman.

Khaira said as we are aware at the time of partition, well off Muslims all over the country had donated huge properties to the Waqf Board, so that their religious places and people of the community could be looked after and avail benefits. Khaira said there are 10 members of the Punjab Waqf board that elect the Chairman of the board, of whom 4 are non-Punjabis. Unfortunately, Capt. Amarinder Singh misusing his position appointed an outsider Mr Junaid Raza a non-Punjabi Muslim as Chairman of the board ignoring the rightful claim of deserving local Muslims.

Khaira said that the Protege of Captain Amarinder Singh as Chairman of the Waqf board is now trying to allow backdoor entry to his kith, kin and favourites to the 170 posts that will be filled up in the Waqf board after a long duration of 25 years. Khaira said earlier there was a special condition that any recruitment to the Punjab Waqf Board would only be given to those, who fulfil the condition of Punjabi as a compulsory subject up till metric level. Khaira said the new Chairman Mr Junaid Raza convened a special meeting of the board on 10.06.2020 and pressurised the members of the board to pass a special resolution, amending rule 11 of the Punjab Waqf board to waive off the condition of compulsory Punjabi up to matric level, so that Muslims from other states particularly Uttar Pradesh can be given these jobs.

Khaira said this is not only gross discrimination with the Muslim community of Punjab but also amounts to rubbing salt on their wounds by recruiting non-Punjabi Muslims in the Waqf board. Khaira said it is needless to mention, that there is huge unemployment in Punjab due to which our youth are migrating to different parts of the world and the Muslims are a minority community in the state, so it is not only erroneous but also unfair and unjust to allow more non-Punjabis to get employment in the Waqf board of the state.

Khaira asked Capt. Amarinder Singh to immediately rectify this mistake and have Punjabi as a compulsory subject up to matric level, while making the said 170 appointments in the Punjab Waqf board. Khaira also urged Capt. Amarinder Singh to review his decision to appoint a non-Punjabi Muslim as Chairman of the Punjab Waqf board and instead give this honour to a deserving Muslim leader of Punjab. Khaira and the Muslim leaders present on the occasion of press conference declared that in case the Punjab government did not make Punjabi a compulsory language while making the said recruitments, they would be forced to move the High Court of Punjab and Haryana to ensure justice to the minority community of Muslims living in Punjab.