MUNAMBAM : There is something ubiquitous between the monsoon sea and the residents of Munambam and Kadappuram. The hearts of these fisherfolk resemble the roiling and boiling sea. The reason behind these turbulent emotions is the threat of losing their lands bought by their fathers and grandparents spending hard-earned money. The Waqf Board claim hangs like the Damocles sword, over 600 families living along the Munambam-Kadappuram coast.
But why now? What made the Waqf Board stake a claim even after a settlement arrived in 1991 during the E K Nayanar government’s tenure? Is it the announcement of the Coastal Highway and the boom in the tourism prospects of these lands? The questions posed by the residents who are now in a belligerent mode are many and intriguing. TNIE spoke to some residents who own documents identifying them as the owners.
“The Waqf claim has struck us like a bolt out of the blue,” says 78-year-old P T Chacko who looks tired as he recounts the ordeal that he and other residents had undergone to secure the land documents way back in 1991. Chacko says, “The main question that needs to be asked is why now? And that, too, after the announcement of the coastal highway. One needs to only add two and two to arrive at the most logical angle.”
“The Waqf claim has struck us like a bolt out of the blue,” says 78-year-old P T Chacko who looks tired as he recounts the ordeal that he and other residents had undergone to secure the land documents way back in 1991. Chacko says, “The main question that needs to be asked is why now? And that, too, after the announcement of the coastal highway. One needs to only add two and two to arrive at the most logical angle.”
Chacko had settled down in Munambam in 1962. “At that time nobody wanted this land since sea attack was a common thing. For six months of monsoon, the sea would race landward inundating the entire area. However, things began to perk up after the construction of the groyne along the Cherai, Munambam-Kadappuram coast,” he adds. Chacko narrates how difficult it was to get permission to build a house due to an ongoing case filed by the management of Farook College.
“The case was taking very long. The residents here were finding it difficult to live and had even resorted to agitation. However, in 1986, a mediation talk was arranged by the E K Nayanar government. A compromise was arrived at with the Farook College management. As per the deal arrived at the behest of the state government, it was decided to grant ownership to the residents against a payment of a stipulated amount as the price for the land. In 1991, the residents were issued land ownership documents,” says Chacko.
For 47-year-old Viji Thearathe life has become a big question mark. “I don’t know what to do! The house that I am living in is on the verge of collapse. I am afraid to even touch the walls,” says Viji as she shows the big cracks that have developed on the walls. Pointing towards the rotting beams that are gingerly holding up a structure that resembles a roof, she says, “I got the biggest shock when I approached the village office to change the ownership of my land. The officers there told me that the process could not be carried out since there were some legal issues.” A safe and secure house had been her and her husband’s dream. But Viji’s husband couldn’t help her realise that dream. He passed away six years ago.
Viji accuses the revenue officials of not informing her of the seriousness of the matter. “This is the land that my parents bought with the money that they earned from fishing. This land is the fruit of their sweat and blood. But now I am being told that I don’t have any right over the land which was bought by my parents fair and square!”
Telling her financial struggles, Viji, who recently got a job as an Anganwadi helper, says, “I get Rs 8,000 per month. But in this year and time, that is not enough to take care of the education of the children and the basic needs of the family. I can’t even take a loan since the land can’t be placed as collateral due to the dispute. Please, help us out.
Only the state government can help us overcome this situation. Why should we vacate the land that has been rightfully ours? What is this Waqf? The first time that I heard of the name was in 2019. We are very simple people and do not know these things. So, it is the duty of the people’s representative whom we have elected to fight for us and help us out.”
The same is the situation of 78-year-old Mary Pallikkathayayil. It is a sorry sight to see her dwelling in a ramshackle structure made up of tarpaulins and wooden planks. “I have pattayam for the land but can’t even apply for housing under the LIFE Mission due to the case filed by the Waqf. How can they be so cruel to snatch this small piece of land from an old woman? I don’t know how long I will live.
However, it would have been good if I was able to build a small house and live in it!” says Mary. This is the story of nearly all the residents at Munambam. As Dominic Varghese Pullickal says, “In my case, it is a double whammy! My property comes under the alignment drawn up for the Coastal Highway project. However, due to the case filed by the Waqf, even if the government issues a compensation package I won’t be getting it. It is a tragedy!” The residents have been questioning the timing of the case filed.
What’s the issue?
Nearly five years ago, the Waqf Board laid claim to the areas of Munambam, Cherai, and Pallikkal in Ernakulam district, located along the northern coast of Vypeen. This region comprises around 1,000 land titles and is home to more than 600 families of various religious backgrounds, with land ownership records dating back to 1989.
Historical context
The history of ownership of this disputed land dates back to 1902. At that time, the King of Travancore leased 404 acres and 60 acres of water to Abdul Sattar Musa Haji Seth, who had come to Kerala from Gujarat for agricultural purposes. The lease had previously excluded the land of local fishermen who had lived there for many years before it.
Later in 1948, his successor Siddique Seth registered this land at the Edappally (Ernakulam) Sub-Registrar Office. During the last 50 years, sea erosion caused significant land loss in areas of that island region. In particular, torrential rains and rough seas in 1934 completely obliterated a seaside known as ‘Pandara seaside’. A significant portion of the land leased by the King to Seth was included. Later registered land included areas where fishermen had resided for nearly a century.
This registered land was handed over to the management of Farook College by Siddique Seth on November 1, 1950, by a gift deed or waqf (the construction work of Farook College was started in 1948 at Feroke in Kozhikode district). Siddique Seth’s closeness with Maulavi Abdullah Ahmed Ali, a Chavakkad native and founder of Farook College, is reported to have influenced his decision to give the land to the college.
However, there are indications that Seth believed there was no use in holding such land when the 404-acre land was reduced to a quarter over the years due to sea erosion. However, it was registered at the time under the condition that the management of Farook College should not use that land for any purpose other than educational objectives, even if it could be bought and sold, and that if Farook College ceases to exist at any point, the land should be returned to his descendants. But knowingly or unknowingly, the word ‘Waqf’ was written in that document.
Even before the transfer of land, some of the residents had obtained occupancy certificates from the Taluk office. The locals did so because the certificate would help them get electricity, drinking water, etc. A few years later, some uneasiness arose between the management of Farook College and the residents due to some disputes over land use. This case continued for several years. Following the assessment that the land had been gifted to Farook College, subsequent court orders were not favourable to residents.
Purchasing the land
In 1975, the residents of the area formed a tenant group and filed a petition in the Paravoor Munsiff Court. That case continued for 12 years. After a long 34 years, in 1987, as part of a compromise, the then residents paid a large sum to the Farook College management to purchase the land where they had been living for more than a century. They paid Rs 250 a cent. At that time, the land in many nearby areas cost less than Rs 100. However, as fishermen who had been living there for ages, they were forced to pay a heavy price as their occupations would be adversely affected. Subsequently, Hassankutty Sahib, secretary of the managing council of Farook College, signed around 280 land documents between 1989 and 1993.
Later events
The area developed over the next three decades. Apart from hundreds of concrete houses, many institutions, churches, roads, and bridges were built. The people who lived in peace suddenly had to confront another threat. A person who came to the village office to pay the land tax in January 2022 was unable to do so because the tahsildar issued an order that it was Waqf land. During the later investigation, the residents realised that the Waqf Board had already started such actions in 2019. However, none of them received a single notification.
It should be remembered that the Nisar Commission, formed by the V S Achuthanandan government to study encroachment on Waqf land, findings were not based on the complaint submitted by Farook College seeking the land back. A group called the Waqf Protection Committee has approached the court demanding the return of the land. A few people from Ernakulam were behind the association.
What political parties say
Minister for Sports and Waqf V Abdurahiman had recently said in a social media post that the government had “initiated deliberations to amicably solve the Munambam issue”. The Congress and the BJP, too, have taken up the issue with the Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan stating that his party’s declared stand was that the controversial land at Munambam was not Waqf land. “I had attended the meeting at Munambam to declare solidarity with the agitations. People were living in the area before land transactions and such land cannot be declared as Waqf property,” he said. Satheesan said that Waqf land should be unconditional but there are conditions in the documents of the land.
The CPI, too, had said that the official stand of the party was that nobody should be displaced from the land. Meanwhile, Union Minister Suresh Gopi lambasted both the Congress-led UDF and the ruling Left front for playing “vote-bank politics” on the issue.
Issue created by Waqf Board, govt: Satheesan
Kozhikode: The government is trying to give a space for the BJP as it did in the case of disrupting the Thrissur Pooram, said Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan. Speaking to reporters here on Tuesday, he said the voices of CPM and BJP leader Prakash Javadekar on the Munambam land issue have become the same. “What the Kerala Waqf Board chairman said is giving support to what the Javadekar said,” he said. Satheesan said the attempt is to create a communal division in the issue. “Now it is clear as to who are the villains in the game - it is the government and the Waqf Board. Our stand is that the people living in the area should be given title deeds that are permanent in nature,” he said.