Waqf Bill Debate: Kerala Land Plot at the Center of BJP Discussion

A legal fight is on over 400 acres in Munambam village in Ernakulam which have been declared Waqf property but where Christian families are settled THE BJP has hailed the passage of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill by the Lok Sabha as a step towards upholding “the right of property for all citizens”, referring particularly to the case of Munambam, a village in Kerala’s Ernakulam district. On Thursday, both the Congress and its ally Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) as well as the rival Left Democratic Front in Kerala accused the BJP of using the Waqf Bill to further its “agenda to divide people on religious lines”. 

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 The Congress and IUML also said that the legislation will not resolve the land ownership issues of the people of Munambam, while accusing the ruling CPI(M) of delaying its resolution so as to also gain from the polarisation. Congress leader V D Satheesan pointed out that Union Minister for Minority Affairs Kiren Rijiju has said that the Bill will have no retrospective effect. “So, can all those who are claiming that the Bill will help the people of Munambam please explain how it will benefit the affected people there?” he said.

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Congress, IUML Clash Over Munambam Land Issue

“So, can all those who are claiming that the Bill will help the people of Munambam please explain how it will benefit the affected people there?” he said. Satheesan claimed that the Congress stand on Munambam was clear, “that it is not Waqf land”. Abdul Sathar Moosa Sait took the Munambam land, totaling 400 acres, on lease from the Travancore royal family in the early 1900s. In 1948, his successor Mohammed Siddeeq Sait registered the land in his name and, two years later, donated it to Kozhikode-based Farook College.

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The protest has gained from the stand of the Kerala Catholic Bishops Council, which has opposed “the eviction threat” faced by Munambam residents. The Council even petitioned the Joint Committee of Parliament which discussed the Centre’s Waqf Bill. The Kerala government’s official stand is that it is with the people of Munambam. “The issue, which is before the court, is very complex… People who have purchased the land have been staying there for long,” Law Minister P Rajeev said in November.