Both KCBC and the Syro-Malabar Public Affairs Commission have called on the Joint Committee of Parliament on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill to take prompt and decisive action to rectify the situation and ensure that such claims on lawfully owned Indian residents’ properties do not occur again in future.
“It is the committee’s responsibility to ensure that the law is enforced fairly and justly, without infringing on citizens’ constitutional rights to live with dignity and own property,” stated the KCBC and SMPAC missives to the Lok Sabha Secretariat, agreed to by Cardinal Baselios Cleemis and Archbishop Mar Andrews Thazhath, the organizations’ president and chairman, respectively.
Fr Michael Pulickal CMI, secretary of KCBC’s Commission for Social Harmony and Vigilance, stated, “Nearly five years ago, the Waqf Board had laid claim to the areas of Munambam, Cherai, and Pallikal islands in Ernakulam district, located along the northern coast of Vypeen.”
This location has over 1,000 land titles and is home to over 600 households from various religious backgrounds, with land ownership records dating back to 1989. These residents are currently experiencing extreme hardship as they are forced to abandon the land they legitimately owned. This scenario has resulted in major infringement of their constitutional rights to live and own property.
“The history of ownership of this disputed land dates back to 1902. At that time, the King of Travancore leased 404 acres of land and 60 acres of water to Abdul Sattar Musa Haji Seth, who had come to Kerala from Gujarat for farming purposes. The lease had previously excluded the land of local fishermen who had lived there for many years before it,” he said elaborating on the issue.
“Later in 1948, his successor Siddique Seth registered this land at Edapally (Ernakulam) Sub-Registrar Office. During the last 50 years, sea erosion led to significant land loss in this region. In particular, torrential rains and rough seas in 1934 completely obliterated a locality ‘Pandara seaside’. A significant portion of this was the land leased by the King to Seth. But, later on, land registered by Seth included areas where fishermen had resided for nearly a century,” he added.
On November 1st, 1950, Siddique Seth handed up this registered land to the Farook College management as a gift deed. “However, it was registered at the time under the condition that the management of Farook College should not use that land for any purpose other than educational objectives. If Farook College ceases to exist at any point, the land should be returned to the descendants. But knowingly or unknowingly, the word ‘Waqf’ was written in that document,” explained Fr Pulickal.
According to him, several of the households had already gotten occupancy permits from the taluk office before the land transfer. The residents did so since the certificate would grant them access to electricity, drinking water, and other necessities. “A few years later, some uneasiness arose between the management of Farook College and the residents due to some disputes over land use. This case continued for several years. Following the assessment that the land had been gifted to Farook College, subsequent court orders were not favorable to the residents,” he explained.
“The main contention before the court is that the present ‘Waqf’ claims cannot stand. Such land cannot be established as ‘Waqf’ as earlier judgments have often referred to the land as a gift to Farook College. According to the 2013 amendments to the Waqf Act, a claim for land to be designated as ‘Waqf’ must be made within three years. However, it was only in 2019 that the Waqf Board raised the claim that the land of Munambam residents is ‘Waqf’. However, no legal procedures had been taken to inform the residents,” Fr Pulickal said.
He stated that the state administration has also turned a blind eye to the plight of Munambam locals. “We urge the Centre to take the grievances raised by Muslim organizations about the Waqf Act amendment seriously. Denial of constitutional rights to any religion should never happen. At the same time, the government must take steps to ensure that incidents like this never occur again. Amendments to the Waqf Act are essential,” he said.
Meanwhile, they made several attempts to reach the Kerala Waqf Board chairperson but received no response.
The state branch of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) meanwhile has stated that it will back the protest action against what it calls “illegal” claims made by the Waqf Board on more than 400 acres in Munambam, affecting people from approximately 600 families who have lived on the land for three generations.
On September 25th, Wednesday, BJP leader Shaun George made a statement saying that the party would back the Munambam Bhoosamrakshana Samithi’s protest action to defend the land. District President KS Shaiju and spokesperson KVS Haridas reiterated the BJP’s support for those protesting land alienation.
The district leaders of the BJP met with party State President K Surendran on Wednesday before delivering the statement, according to a press release. The party claimed that persons with extremist links were now claiming the land as Waqf property. The BJP urged an investigation into the extremist links of people who applied to the Munambam Waqf Board for property ownership through the Munambam Waqf Samrakshana Samithi.
The BJP leaders also applauded the Kerala Catholic Bishops Council’s support for the Waqf Board Bill modification, which was introduced in parliament. Since the Christian community is openly supportive of the Bill, the United Democratic Front and the Left Democratic Front should also come forward to state their positions on the topic.
