Year-long stir for revenue rights likely to end soon in Munambam
The agitation, which began on October 13, 2024 and has been ongoing for over 400 days, was propelled when the local panchayat suspended the process to accept land tax from the local residents after the State Waqf Board claimed ownership of nearly 404 acres of land
The action council driving over a year-long protest in Munambam, a coastal hamlet in Kerala’s Ernakulam district, demanding ownership and revenue rights over the land they reside in amid a Waqf dispute is likely to decide to end the agitation soon.
The agitation, which began on October 13, 2024 and has been ongoing for over 400 days, was propelled when the local panchayat suspended the process to accept land tax from the local residents after the State Waqf Board claimed ownership of nearly 404 acres of land. The Board claimed that the contested land in Munambam, on which nearly 600 families, mostly Christians, resided, was gifted by an individual named Siddique Sait as ‘waqf’ to the Farooq College in Kozhikode. However, the local residents claim that they bought the land in small parcels from the college over the last three decades, opposing the argument that it cannot be a ‘waqf’ property.
Joseph Benny, the convenor of the protest committee, said the core committee of the action council will meet soon to decide the future course of the agitation. He added that it is leaning towards concluding the protests.
If the decision to end the agitation is taken, the core committee plans to convene a massive meeting with the participation of leaders from all communities and parties.
The decision is spurred by the Kerala High Court’s ruling on Wednesday, allowing the residents of Munambam to remit land tax on the disputed land and directing the revenue officials to receive such taxes. The ruling has come as a huge relief for the residents who were not able to avail bank loans or financial assistance over the past four years due to the dispute over Waqf ownership.
P Rajeev, the law minister, said, “The government has always said that it will protect the residents of Munambam legally. The CM had told the people back then that they will not be evicted from their lands. It is up to them to decide whether to withdraw the agitation.”
The Waqf dispute in Munambam had become a major national talking-point, reaching even the hallowed halls of Parliament, with parties like the BJP hitting hard at what they claim are attempts by Muslim organisations and Waqf boards to encroach upon public and private land. The dispute in Munambam became a key talking-point when the Union government brought and later passed the Waqf Amendment Act, which has sweeping changes over the management of Waqf land and composition of Waqf Boards.
The dispute in Munambam is also expected to reverberate in the upcoming local body elections.
