Waqf Bill debate: Why a Kerala land plot keeps coming up in BJP discourse

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. Satheesan claimed that the Congress stand on Munambam was clear, “that it is not Waqf land”.

IUML supremo Panakkad Sayyid Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal said the League was with the people of Munambam and not in favour of evicting them, while hoping for a dialogue with the Christian community on why it is supporting the Waqf Bill.

So what is the Munambam dispute about?

The Munambam land in question, adding up to 400 acres, was taken on lease from the Travancore royal family by one Abdul Sathar Moosa Sait in the early 1900s. In 1948, his successor Mohammed Siddeeq Sait got the land registered in his name, and two years later, donated it to Kozhikode-based Farook College.

A large number of fishermen lived on this coastal land, with their families settled here for generations. Between 1987 and 1993, the Farook College management accepted money from these occupants and gave them title deeds. What complicated matters was the coming into effect of the Waqf Act in 1995.

In 2008, the then CPI(M) government appointed a commission to look into the functioning of the Kerala State Waqf Board, and the transfer of Waqf properties. The panel found Munambam land to be Waqf property and recommended action accordingly. However, the Farook College management failed to register its land with the Waqf board.

In 2019, the Waqf board suo motu declared Munambam Waqf property, and directed the Revenue Department to stop accepting land tax from the present owners.

In 2022, the state government intervened and directed the Revenue Department to continue collecting the land tax, overruling the directive of the Waqf board. By paying land tax, the occupants have some claim to the plots and can pledge property for availing various loans.

The same year, petitions were filed in the High Court, challenging the government decision to accept land tax. The court, which is in the process of hearing a dozen appeals on the issue, from both sides, stayed the government decision.

One of the petitioners is Farook College, which has challenged the Waqf board decision to declare its land as Waqf property, saying it was “property gifted to the college management… which has sold the land to several occupants in the past”.

Why has the row blown up now?

Since November of last year, the BJP has been questioning the Kerala Waqf Board over its claim on the Munambam land, turning its attention to it after the Kerala Assembly passed a resolution against the Centre’s Waqf Bill. The BJP has called upon the Kerala Waqf board to abandon its claim on the 400 acres.

Senior BJP leaders also participated in the protests held under the banner of a ‘land protection committee’ over Munambam.

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.

After the BJP got involved in the matter, the IUML held a meeting of various Muslim outfits, where Thangal issued a statement saying no one wants the residents of Munambam evicted. “They are not responsible for the present crisis. They need documents for their land. The government should have intervened timely, without leaving room for communal forces,” the IUML said, advocating an out-of-court settlement.

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.