KOZHIKODE: As the row over Waqf Board’s claim on the land by more than 600 families at Munambam in Ernakulam becomes a political hot potato, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday said the government will stand with the residents.
The CM made the statement during a public function held as part of the Wayanad byelection campaign of LDF candidate Sathyan Mokeri in Kalpetta. “The government will stand with the residents of Munambam. The issue is now getting wide media attention. A meeting will be held after the byelection and a decision will be taken accordingly,” he said.
Meanwhile, All Kerala Waqf Protection Committee came out against Leader of Oppn V D Satheesan for making “irresponsible and reckless” remarks on the “Waqf land at Munambam” for deriving political mileage from the controversy.
“Satheesan’s intervention is ill-motivated as the UDF wants to put pressure on the government. Satheesan’s consideration is purely political,” said Abdul Khader Karanthoor, general secretary of the committee.
Satheesan had recently said that the land at Munambam was not Waqf property. He had also alleged that the government and Kerala Waqf Board were creating a favourable political atmosphere for the Sangh Parivar by promoting communal polarisation. “Different courts, from the munsiff court to the High Court, have categorically said the land is a Waqf property. The Ernakulam collector, after a detailed survey, also recorded it is Waqf land,” Khader said.
He said in 2019, the Kerala Waqf Board led by Panakkad Rasheed Ali Shihab Thangal had noted that the Waqf land at Munambam should be protected. The Nizar Commission appointed by the V S Achuthanandan government too attested to the Waqf claim on the land, he said.
‘No party given right to represent Muslims on Munambam issue’
Satheesan had said the land could not be considered Waqf property on three counts: certain conditions are attached in the original deed, people were living in the area before the land was declared as Waqf’s and certain portions of it were sold. Responding to this, Khader said: “All these issues were addressed by the courts, which attested that it is Waqf property. Satheesan is either unaware of the facts or is trying to capitalise on the issue.”
The committee squarely blamed the Farook College management for the present crisis. “The management did not care to protect the land given for the educational uplift of the Muslim community from encroachers. It sold 188 acres without informing the Waqf Board in 1990,” he said.
“Satheesan now says the Farook College management has not staked claim on the land, to give credence to his argument. The management will not come forward as it knows its misdeeds will be exposed,” Khader said, adding that the management should be asked to compensate the people who purchased the land to reclaim the Waqf property.
Khader also questioned IUML leader P K Kunhalikutty’s sincerity in solving the issue. “He called a meeting of Muslim organisations in Kozhikode to buy their mandate. No one has given any political party the right to represent the community in this issue,” he said.
According to its leadership, Waqf Protection Committee is an independent entity with no political affiliations. “Our sole aim is to protect Waqf properties across Kerala,” Khader said.
