Munambam Waqf Land Dispute: Why A 123-Year-Old Lease Of 404 Acres At An Island’s Tip Has Divided Kerala

Last Updated:November 05, 2024, 12:46 IST

The history of ownership of the land dates back to the early 19th century when the Kutchi Memons, a Muslim community from Gujarat’s Kutch region, migrated to the Kerala coast, mainly for trade

The six-decade-old land dispute started in 1962 when the residents filed a case in Paravur Sub Court, contesting Farook College’s ownership. (By Special Arrangement)

The coastal village of Munambam in Kochi has become a flashpoint in Kerala’s politics after the state Waqf Board claimed that over 404 acres of land were designated Waqf property in 1950.

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

The residents, after a six-decade-old legal fight, began a hunger strike on October 13 this year with support from the Church, a day before the state assembly unanimously passed a resolution, urging the Union government to withdraw the controversial Waqf Amendment Bill, 2024. The protest received a fillip on October 30 when Union minister Suresh Gopi met the protesters and said the Centre was committed to resolving the issue.

WHAT IS THE ISSUE?

Munambam is a suburb of Kochi at the north end of the 26-km-long and 5-km-wide Vypeen Island, which is surrounded by the Arabian Sea on the west, the Periyar River on the east, and the mouth of the sea in the north.

The village in Kochi Taluk in Ernakulam district is home to 610 families, mainly from Backward and Scheduled Caste communities, and more than 65 per cent of the inhabitants are Latin Catholics.

The history of ownership of the land dates back to the early 19th century when the Kutchi Memons, a Muslim community from Gujarat’s Kutch region, migrated to the Kerala coast, mainly for trade. The community was facilitated by the then rulers, 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 a Kutchi Memon, Abdul Sattar Musa Haji Seth. During the last five decades, sea erosion led to considerable land loss in this region. The lease had previously excluded the land of local fishermen who had lived there for many years before it.

Later, Sattar Seth’s son-in-law, Muhammed Siddique Seth, along with his father, Musalman Seth, registered this land at the Edapally (Ernakulam) Sub-Registrar Office, including the areas where fishermen had resided for nearly a century.

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

LEGAL BATTLE BEGINS

The six-decade-old land dispute started in 1962 when the residents filed a case in Paravur Sub Court, contesting Farook College’s ownership. The legal fight ultimately reached the Kerala High Court, which, in 1975, upheld Farook College’s claim.

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

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

In December 2016, a division bench of the Kerala High Court directed the state government to implement a government order issued in May 2010 approving the Nissar Commission report and directing further action, considering 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 as per the Central Waqf Act (section 97).

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

In 2022, the residents were told that they could not pay the land 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, while replying to a question by senior Muslim League leader KPA Majeed on the steps taken by the state government on reclaiming the Munambam land under Waqf on December 12, 2022.

Cut to 2024, the residents are being forced to vacate the land they legally purchased.

WHERE DO POLITICAL PARTIES STAND?

The area falls in the Vypeen assembly constituency represented by KN Unnikrishnan of CPI(M).

The Kerala Assembly, on October 14, unanimously passed a resolution, urging the Union government to withdraw the controversial Waqf Amendment Bill 2024. This irked the Church members as 29 of the 140 MLAs belonging to both LDF and UDF who supported the resolution are Christians from various denominations. Incidentally, 18 of them are from the Catholic Church.

Both the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council (KCBC) and the Syro-Malabar Public Affairs Commission had urged the Joint Committee of Parliament on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill to take immediate and decisive action to resolve the issue and ensure that such claims on lawfully owned properties of Indian citizens are not repeated in the future.

The Latin Catholic Church with an OBC status caters to around 13 per cent of the Christians in Kerala and is one of the three individual churches which constitutes the Catholic Church in the state. The Latin Catholic Church, which traditionally supported UDF but backed LDF in the 2021 assembly elections, had kept the BJP away despite several attempts by the saffron party to befriend them.

GOVERNMENT AND THE OPPOSITION

Now, the Muslim League has urged the state government to “stop some forces using the issue to disrupt Kerala’s renowned religious harmony". Party general secretary PK Kunhalikutty said Muslim organisations were willing to cooperate with the government to resolve the issue, adding that a hate campaign was being unleashed against the community. He also said an out-of-court settlement should be reached, and the decision should then be conveyed to the court.

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

The first formal intervention in the issue by the state government will be a high-level meeting next week to be convened by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. It will be attended by state ministers handling the portfolios of Waqf, Law, and Revenue and the 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 solve the Munambam issue".

On Monday, Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan 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.

Thiruvananthapuram [Trivandrum], India

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