MUMBAI, 18 August 2007 — It was black Thursday and double lethal blow to the state Congress and Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh. First minister Anees Ahmed got a rap from the Mumbai High Court for irregularities and then the state Waqf Board Chairman Dr. M.A. Aziz, who is also a Congress legislator and close confidant of the chief minister embroiled in the alleged Waqf properties irregularities, submitted his resignation from the post of chairman.
A besieged Aziz on Thursday sent his letter of resignation to the state government. As a face-saving formula, he stated that he was relinquishing his post at the end of completing the five-year tenure.
According to sources in the Congress party, Aziz’s resignation was to avoid any embarrassing situation for himself and for Deshmukh, the latter not keen that Aziz continue further as the chairman of the Waqf Board in view of the controversies about Waqf properties that revolved around Aziz. The government has already prepared a list of 13 new board members who will elect a new chairman.
Prior to sending his letter of resignation to Deshmukh and Additional Chief Secretary Mrs. Neela Satynarayan, Aziz put the blame on the government and said that he was not interested in continuing as the chairman of the Waqf Board, as it has been extremely difficult to run the board’s affairs without financial support from the government. “The good work done despite many shortcomings, has gained only criticism,” he said.
Veteran film stars Dilip Kumar and Shabana Azmi also drew flake from the officials of the Waqf Board, who said that these two film stars who are the members of the board, hardly attended one or two meetings and never showed concern in the Muslim community’s welfare. As a result of their negligence and loss of interest, vested interests siphoned off Waqf properties, the officials said.
Satyanarayan confirmed the receipt of Aziz’s resignation letter and said the government had made provisions for the appointment of members to the new board. “Out of 13 members, a few have resigned, while others like Shabana Azmi and Dilip Kumar were irregular in attending board meetings,” she said.
The tenure of the members of the first board ended on Thursday. “The board CEO and other members, who still hold office, will look after the management till new appointments are made,” said an official from the revenue department.
