Kerala Waqf Board reconstitution: Pinarayi Vijayan accuses UDF govt of ‘surrendering to Sangh Parivar diktats’
Kerala’s Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan | Photo Credit: Nirmal Harindran Accusing the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government in Kerala of having “surrendered completely to the Sangh Parivar’s diktats”, Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan has said the State government has “betrayed” Kerala’s secular society and minorities by deciding to reconstitute the Waqf Board in accordance with the Union government’s Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development (UMEED) Act, or the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025. Addressing a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday (July 17, 2026), Mr. Vijayan said the (previous) Left Democratic Front (LDF) had taken a stand against the act and kept two posts in the 11-member body vacant. The amended Act had mandated the inclusion of two non-Muslim members in the Waqf Board, a move against which several pleas are pending in the Supreme Court. The UDF government has shown needless hurry in agreeing to reconstitute the board as per the amended Act, despite the pending legal challenges, he said. “The 2025 amendment was part of a Sangh Parivar agenda …







