No one should be displaced over Waqf land issue in Kerala’s Munambam, says CPI

PTI, Nov 3, 2024, 5:37 PM IST

Thiruvananthapuram: Amid intensified protests by residents, supported by the Catholic Church, over the Waqf land issue in Munambam in Ernakulam district, the CPI, the second-largest coalition partner in the ruling LDF, cautioned on Sunday against vested interests attempting to create communal division in society on the matter.

The party’s stand is that no one should be evicted from Munambam, CPI state secretary Binoy Viswam said in a Facebook post.

Whether it is Waqf land or Devaswom land, poor people should not be displaced in the name of anything, he said.

Some are trying to trigger communalism in the name of the Munambam issue. The RSS and the SDPI are sowing the seeds of Hindu and Muslim fanaticism, respectively, Viswam said in the Facebook post.

Pointing out that these organisations have nothing to do with religion, he said those who unknowingly fall into the traps of the RSS and the SDPI should realise the truth of what they aim to do.

The Left leader also clarified that the moves of such organisations to create communal issues would go in vain.

The CPI leader’s statement comes amidst growing resentment among a significant portion of the Christian population regarding the LDF and UDF’s stance on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, introduced by the BJP-led Centre.

The two fronts had recently unanimously passed a resolution in the state Assembly opposing the BJP-led Centre’s Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, which challenges provisions in the existing Waqf law.

In support of the Bill, the Church has alleged that numerous properties belonging to Christian families for generations in the villages of Cherai and Munambam in the Ernakulam district have been unlawfully claimed by the Waqf Board using provisions of the existing Act.

In Cherai and Munambam villages in Ernakulam district, residents have alleged that the Waqf Board unlawfully makes claim to their land and properties, despite the people having registered deeds and land tax payment receipts.

According to the residents who are protesting against it, their land was given to Farooque College Kozhikode in 1950 for educational purposes.

They say it was not Waqf land, and they paid for the land to the college management.The case relating to the property dispute is pending in the high court.

Leader of Opposition, V D Satheesan, had recently said that his party’s declared stand is that the controversial land at Munambam does not belong to the Waqf Board and that the government could solve the issue within 10 minutes if it really wanted.

Recently, the Syro-Malabar Church-backed ‘Deepika’ daily, in its editorial, attacked the Congress-led UDF and the CPI(M)-led LDF, accusing them of passing a unanimous resolution in the state Assembly “to protect the Waqf law without seeing the tears of the affected people.” The Church was discontented with the actions of the LDF and the UDF, as the Assembly passed the resolution despite the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church in Kerala and the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council having sent letters to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) regarding the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, requesting amendments to the Waqf Act of 1995.