KOCHI: At a time when people residing in the controversial land in Munambam want the authorities to settle issues related to their property. The Kerala Waqf Samrakshana Samithi has taken a clear stand that the state government should reclaim the waqf land and utilise it for the original purpose for which it was handed over to Farook College authorities.
Addressing a news conference here on Wednesday, the Samithi made it clear that the cardinal mistake in the entire issue was made by Farook College authorities, who transacted (sold) the waqf land to third parties which is purely illegal under the Waqf Act.
The Samithi members said: “Once the waqf land is misused, then as per the Waqf Act, its ownership automatically gets vested in the Waqf Board, a state body, and thus the state government has the total authority to reclaim the land.”
“In the Munambam case, the land was actually handed over for educational purposes, and the Farook College authorities illegally sold the land to third parties. Section 32 of Waqf Act clearly states that such lands should be reclaimed by the Waqf Board. Once the land is reclaimed, it should be used for the original purpose,” said samithi convener Adv Mujeeb Rahman.
When specifically asked about the residents in the Munambam land, the Samithi made it clear once again that the residents were cheated by the Farook College authorities and some mafia with vested interests. “The state has the responsibility to solve the matter with humanitarian consideration,” said Rahman.
“The state government should relocate the residents and the amount needed for this should be collected from Farook College authorities as compensation. Currently the campaign by Church heads is misleading the public. Some even say that the 404 acres in Munambam is not even waqf land, which is completely incorrect,” said Adv M M Aliyar, an expert in Muslim Personal Law, who also spoke in the press conference.
On the statement made by Opposition Leader V D Satheesan during a solidarity meeting the other day that the land in dispute at Munambam is not wafq land, the samithi members clarified that a division bench of the Kerala High Court had struck down the state government order allowing the inhabitants to pay the land taxes as it is a waqf land.
“The ruling was made by the High Court on December 12, 2022. When such a ruling still stands, the statement by the Opposition Leader, who is also an advocate by profession, is making a fake propaganda aimed at pleasing the Christian Churches, as part of vote bank politics,” Rahman said.
When TNIE pointed out the Christian Church heads’ recent claims that the King of Travancore ‘leased’ Munambam property to Abdul Sattar Musa Haji Seth in 1902, Aliyar made it clear that it was not a lease, but a gift deed which is clearly stated in previous records and also in the ruling made by the High Court on December 12, 2022 and all previous rulings.
“It was Seth who made the property a waqf land and then handed it over to the Farook College authorities for educational purposes. A waqf property cannot be transacted,” he said, adding: “If the protesters feel that it’s not a waqf land, then why not they (the present protesters in Munambam) approach the High Court or the Supreme Court,” according to Rahman.
The Samithi said the state government should resolve the Munambam issue, taking into account the provisions of the Waqf Act.