Telangana Wakf Board CEO faces backlash after 'misleading ad' to lease out Shia ceremonial spot

The Telangana State Wakf Board (TSWB) may be at the centre of another controversy as allegations have reportedly surfaced against its chief executive officer (CEO) Mohammed Asadullah.

Quoting sources, The Times of India reported that the board recently released an advertisement calling for bids so that a portion of the Naal-e-Mubarak ashoorkhana in Pathergatti can be given on lease, misrepresenting the portion as a 'mulgi' or shop.

The report adds that the issue came to light after former board member and MIM MLA Syed Altaf Hyder Razvi flagged the advertisement to the Minorities Welfare Department (MWD) secretary, adding that the advertisement to lease the portion that contained the naqqarkhana (drum house) as a shop, "is a misrepresentation of facts and is illegal".

"The naqqarkhana cannot be leased out or rented out as it attracts the change in the nature of wakf, which is against the Wakf Act of 1995," TOI quotes an excerpt from the letter as stating.

The MWD secretary has also since shot off a memo to the Wakf board demanding that the advertisement be taken down immediately.

Allegations of misappropriation of funds have also been levelled against the CEO and others, the newspaper adds.

Last week, the Wakf board raised eyebrows after an RTI found that it had employed 17 retired people since 2014, with three of them over the age of 70.

However, there is also politics at play in this latest face-off as reports claim that Mohammed Asadullah’s term as CEO got an extension  from the government, much to the disappointment of the MIM which wanted to "regain its control over Waqf Board".