KOCHI: The Munambam waqf land row has intensified in the byelection campaign in Kerala, with more BJP leaders raising the matter and CPM clarifying repeatedly that no one would be evicted from the coastal hamlet. Over 600 families, supported by the Catholic Church, are opposing the Kerala State Wakf Board’s claims on their properties in Munambam, Ernakulam.
CPM state secretary MV Govindan said modern Kerala was built on the Left govt’s commitment to farmers and marginalised communities, and this would continue indefinitely. “The CPM will not support any eviction. No one will be evicted from their land, anywhere in Kerala, not just in Munambam,” he told reporters in Palakkad.
The govt will take a necessary stance after resolving technical issues, including legal matters, he said. Noting that protests against waqf claims were ongoing in Munambam for a long time, he said the issue could not be resolved by the govt alone. He also accused the BJP of attempting to create communal di visions. Minister V Abdurahiman, who holds the charge of waqf, said people like Suresh Gopi were trying to communalise the issue. “We have been saying for the last six months that this issue should not be politicised. It is a case that is going on in Kerala High Court on a petition filed by the waqf board. The govt has nothing to do with it, but we will not allow anyone to be evicted,” he said.
Dismissing the allegation of communalising the issue, BJP state president K Surendran alleged that both LDF and UDF were afraid to meet the protesters. “They passed a joint resolution in the state assembly against the Centre’s waqf law amendment, disregarding the interests of the Christian community and majority population in the state. There is a communal agenda behind this,” he said.
Constitutional rights of all should be protected: MinUnion minister of state for minorities George Kurien said people who talk about the Constitution should first think about Munambam. “The constitutional rights of all should be protected. Those who keep saying forty times an hour that the Constitution should be protected are pretending that they have not seen the people of Munambam,” he said.
Palakkad NDA candidate C Krishnakumar, who visited Munambam on Sunday, said this was a struggle by those who were denied justice. “The Munambam protests were able to convince people of the horrors of the Waqf Act,” he said.
The UDF, meanwhile, has taken a stand that the govt should intervene to withdraw the waqf board claim on the land. They pointed out that none of the Muslim organisations had said that the Munambam land was waqf property and the board’s claim was unlawful.
There is growing resentment among a section of the Christian population in Kerala on the LDF and UDF’s stance on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, introduced by the Centre. The bill challenges provisions in the existing waqf law.
The church has alleged that numerous properties belonging to Christian families for generations in Cherai and Munambam villages in Ernakulam have been unlawfully claimed by the waqf board under the current Act. Residents pointed out they had registered deeds and land tax payment receipts for these properties.
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