Last update:05 November 2024, 12:46 IST

The history of land ownership dates back to the early 19th century when the Kutchi Memons, a Muslim community from the Kutch region of Gujarat, migrated to coastal Kerala, mainly for commercial purposes.

The six-decade-old land dispute began in 1962 when residents filed a suit in the Paravur sub-court, challenging the ownership of Farook College. (By special arrangement)

The coastal village of Munambam in Kochi became a flashpoint in Kerala politics after the state Waqf Board claimed that over 404 acres of land had been designated as Waqf property in 1950.

The BJP has positioned itself as a defender of the village residents, gaining an edge over the ruling CPI(M)-led LDF and the opposition Congress-led UDF.

Residents, after a six-decade-old legal struggle, began a hunger strike on October 13 this year with the support of the Church, a day before the State Assembly passed the unanimously a resolution urging the Union government to withdraw the controversial Waqf Amendment Bill. , 2024. The protest received a boost on October 30 when Union Minister Suresh Gopi met the protesters and said the Center was committed to resolving the issue.

WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?

Munambam is a suburb of Kochi on the northern tip of the 26 km long and 5 km wide Vypeen Island, surrounded by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Periyar River to the east and the mouth of the sea. to the north.

Kochi Taluk village in Ernakulam district is home to 610 families, mainly from backward and scheduled caste communities, and more than 65 percent of the residents are Latin Catholics.

The history of land ownership dates back to the early 19th century when the Kutchi Memons, a Muslim community from the Kutch region of Gujarat, migrated to coastal Kerala, mainly for commercial purposes. The community was facilitated by the rulers of the time, the Travancore royal family, to enrich the economy.

In 1902, the King of Travancore leased 404 acres of land and 60 acres of water, known as the Munambam property, to one Kutchi Memon, Abdul Sattar Musa Haji Seth. Over the past five decades, marine erosion has caused considerable land loss in this region. The lease previously excluded the land of local fishermen who had lived there for many years before.

Later, Sattar Seth’s son-in-law, Muhammed Siddique Seth, and his father, Musalman Seth, registered this land with the sub-registration office at Endapally (Ernakulam), including the areas where the fishermen had been residing for almost ‘a century.

This registered land was handed over to the management of Farook College at Farooke in Kozhikode district, 140 km from Munambam, by Muhammed Siddique Seth on November 1, 1950, as a deed of donation. It was registered with a clause that the management should not use this land for any purpose other than educational purposes. If Farook College ceases to exist, the land should be returned to descendants. The word “Waqf” was written in this document.

THE LEGAL BATTLE BEGINS

The six-decade-old land dispute began in 1962 when residents filed a suit in the Paravur sub-court, challenging the ownership of Farook College. The legal battle eventually reached the Kerala High Court, which in 1975 upheld Farook College’s petition.

According to various reports, a settlement between Farook College and the residents allowed the latter to purchase the land they occupied and between 1983 and 1993, the college got around Rs 33 lakh from these sales.

This is where the Kerala Waqf Board came into the picture following a complaint filed by Nassir Manayil, former member of the Waqf Board and secretary of the Kochi-based Kerala Waqf Samrakshana Vedhi, alleging encroachment on the property of the Waqf. The complaint led the state government to constitute a commission with Moidu Ahammed Nisar, a retired district judge, as its chairman in 2007 and the ‘Wakf Commission of Inquiry dated June 26, 2009’ submitted by him confirmed that the lands of Munambam were indeed the property of the Waqf.

In December 2016, a division bench of the Kerala High Court ordered the state government to implement a government order issued in May 2010 approving the Nissar Commission report and ordering further action, taking into account a petition filed by Nassir Manayil.

The order also proposed action by the state government using its power to issue directions to the Waqf Board in accordance with the Central Waqf Act (Section 97).

In 2019, the Kerala Waqf Board officially registered the property as a Waqf, asserting its claim over the areas of Munambam, Cherai and Pallikal islands in Ernakulam district, located along the northern Vypeen coast.

In 2022, residents were told they could not pay property tax on their properties. Following this, the state government intervened and allowed them to pay the tax. However, no formal order was issued by the government, as per a statement by V Abdurahiman, Minister for Minority Affairs and Waqf, in the State Assembly, in response to a question from the senior state leader Muslim League, KPA Majeed, on the steps taken by the state government. on recovery of Munambam lands under Waqf on December 12, 2022.

Until 2024, residents are forced to leave the land they have legally purchased.

WHERE ARE THE POLITICAL PARTIES?

The area is part of the Vypeen Assembly constituency represented by KN Unnikrishnan of the CPI(M).

On October 14, the Kerala Assembly unanimously passed a resolution urging the Union government to withdraw the controversial Waqf Amendment Bill 2024. This angered church members as 29 Of the 140 MPs belonging to the LDF and UDF who supported the resolution are Christians of various denominations. Moreover, 18 of them come from the Catholic Church.

The Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council (KCBC) and the Syro-Malabar Public Affairs Commission have urged the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill to take immediate and decisive steps to resolve the issue and ensure that such Claims on legally held properties of Indian citizens will not recur in the future.

The Latin Catholic Church with OBC status caters to about 13 percent of Kerala’s Christians and is one of three individual churches that constitute the Catholic Church in the state. The Latin Catholic Church, which traditionally supported the UDF but had supported the LDF in the 2021 assembly elections, had kept the BJP at bay despite several attempts by the saffron party to befriend them.

THE GOVERNMENT AND THE OPPOSITION

The Muslim League today urged the state government to “restrain certain forces from using this issue to disrupt the famous religious harmony of Kerala”. Party general secretary PK Kunhalikutty said Muslim organizations were ready to cooperate with the government to resolve the issue, adding that a hate campaign was underway against the community. He also said that an out-of-court settlement should be reached and the decision should then be sent to court.

The party declared its stand on the issue on November 2, following a meeting with various Muslim organizations in Kozhikode on November 1.

The state government’s first formal intervention on the issue will be a high-level meeting next week to be convened by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. It will be attended by state ministers in charge of Waqf, Law and Revenue portfolios as well as representatives of the Kerala Waqf Board.

Minister V Abdurahiman said in a social media post on November 3 that the government had “initiated deliberations to amicably resolve the Munambam issue”.

Opposition leader VD Satheesan on Monday urged the chief minister to convene an all-party meeting to resolve the land dispute. Satheesan represents Paravoor, the constituency bordering Munambam, in the state Assembly.

Location :

Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), India