Munambam Land Row: Will It Be a New Flashpoint Between Congress and BJP in Kerala?
With the Union Ministry of Minority Affairs issuing a notice to the Kerala Waqf Board in connection with the Munambam land case, following the intervention of BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the dispute is bound to flare up. Kerala seems to be sitting on a double-edged sword on the Munambam land dispute, after the Waqf Board registered the land in the central government's Umeed portal.
What Is the Munambam Land Dispute?
The Munambam land dispute is an ongoing conflict over 404 acres of coastal land in Ernakulam district of Kerala. The Kerala State Waqf Board claims the land was endowed as Waqf in 1950, while over 600 local Christian and Hindu families claim they legally purchased the land and hold valid title deeds.
How Did the Case Escalate?
The dispute came into the limelight when the Kerala Waqf Board unilaterally registered the controversial Munambam properties onto the central government's Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development (UMEED) portal. The Centre has questioned the legality of the Board uploading these properties and demanded an explanation. The Supreme Court had ordered a status quo on the land and stayed the Kerala High Court's prior declaration that the area was not Waqf land, allowing an ongoing legal and state inquiry to proceed.
Public Opinion and Wider Ramifications
The affected residents, operating under the Munambam Land Protection Council and backed by the Catholic Church, are protesting the Waqf Board's actions. They are demanding that the newly-elected United Democratic Front (UDF) state government, led by Chief Minister V D Satheesan, resolve the issue permanently by invalidating the Waqf classification to protect their property rights. Local public and church sentiments heavily favour the residents. Organisations argue that these families, who are predominantly Latin Catholic fishers, legally purchased the land decades ago.
The dispute has also become a major flashpoint between the major parties in the southern state. The BJP has strongly backed the affected Christian families, utilizing the row to build bridges with the Christian community in Kerala. In contrast, the ruling UDF is caught in a delicate balancing act, attempting to protect the residents without alienating minority votes.
BJP's Stance on the Matter
Party MLA and state unit party chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar had earlier submitted a detailed complaint to Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, urging intervention in the alleged unilateral registration of certain lands, including around 404 acres in Munambam, on the UMEED portal by the Kerala Waqf Board. In his complaint, he argued that under the provisions of the UMEED framework, only the concerned mutawalli (caretaker) is authorised to upload land details onto the portal. He alleged that the Waqf Board's direct registration of properties was illegal and an overreach of its jurisdiction.
"Munambam will not become another Waqf land grab. Thank you, PM Modi and Union Minister Kiren Rijiju for acting swiftly on my request. The Kerala Waqf Board's unilateral registration of 404 acres in Munambam on the UMEED portal is entirely illegal, since the law vests that authority only with the Mutawalli," he said in a post on X. "Following my intervention, the Union Ministry has now sought an explanation from the Kerala Waqf Board over its actions in the Munambam land dispute. No one should imagine that a weak Congress-led government in Kerala gives them a licence to violate the rule of law and trample upon the rights of ordinary and hardworking Malayalees," he added.
