No SP man in Shia Waqf Board: Azam

Accused of meddling in affairs of Shia Waqf Board, Uttar Pradesh minister Azam Khan today said elections of the Board were being held as per the law and not a single member was associated with the Samajwadi Party.
"All together there are 27 members. A person, who will have 14 members, will win the seat of chairman. If a person does not have even 14 members then he should not claim himself to be a religious leader," he said.
On July 26, prominent Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawwad led a protest in the city alleging conspiracy to place select people in the Waqf Board.

Jawwad had alleged Azam is trying to place his own man on the post of the chairman of Shia Central Board of Waqfs (SCBW).
The minister also launched a veiled attack on Jawwad alleging the language he was using seems intended to please his masters in the BJP.
"The language this so-called cleric is using is intended to please the BJP government at the Centre," Azam told reporters here.

The minister said baseless and unfounded allegations were being levelled against him.
He said when the SP government came to power, he wrote a letter for a CBI inquiry into sale of properties of Waqf.

Azam said as far as the land of Maulana Ali Jauhar University is concerned, it was not received in donation.
"An effort is being made to damage Jauhar University," he said.