After a marathon 414-day agitation, the high-profile land rights protest in Munambam, Kerala, was officially called off on Sunday, November 30, 2025. The protest, which gained national attention during debates on the Waqf Amendment Bill, centered on a decades-old dispute where the Kerala State Waqf Board claimed 404 acres of coastal land inhabited by hundreds of families.
The Heart of the Conflict: A Century-Old Land Claim
The controversy revolves around a 404-acre stretch along the Munambam coast in Ernakulam district. For generations, this land has been home to approximately 600 families. Around 400 of these families belong to the backward Latin Catholic community, with the remainder being backward Hindus.
The Waqf Board's claim traces back to the early 20th century. Land records indicate the Travancore royals leased the area, spanning Kuzhuppilly and Pallipuram villages, to a trader named Abdul Sathar Moosa Sait. After his death, his son-in-law and successor, Mohammed Siddique Sait, registered the land in his name.
In a pivotal move, Sait decided to hand over the land for the management of Kozhikode's Farook College, an institution established in 1948 to empower Muslims of Malabar educationally. On November 1, 1950, a waqf deed was registered at the Edappally sub-registrar's office in Kochi, executed by Sait in favor of the college president.
Legal Battles and the Residents' Fight for Rights
The conflict between the residents and Farook College began in the late 1960s. The college had received the title deed in the 1960s, while the residents initially lacked proper documents. The dispute eventually led to an out-of-court settlement where the college management agreed to sell the land to its residents at market rates.
Critically, the sale deeds from the college did not mention the land as waqf property; instead, they described it as received via a gift deed in 1950. This position was upheld by both a lower court and the Kerala High Court in 1975. Over time, residents purchased plots, secured title deeds, and some engaged in commercial activities on the land.
The situation changed dramatically in 2008. A state government inquiry commission, headed by former district judge MA Nissar, investigated the Waqf Board's operations. Although Munambam was not initially part of its mandate, the commission recommended the board declare the land as waqf property, arguing the college sold it without the board's consent. Acting on this, the Waqf Board declared and registered the land as waqf property in the name of Mohammed Siddique Sait in 2019.
Court Verdicts and the Political Firestorm
Farook College management challenged the board's decision in the High Court, maintaining the land was a gift, not a waqf. They argued that as the deed was registered before the board's establishment, and they received a gift deed, they were not obligated to register it as waqf.
The residents' protest, which began after the Waqf Board staked its claim, escalated into a major political issue. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) backed the protesting residents, while the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Congress supported the Waqf Board's position.
In a significant development in October 2025, a division bench of the Kerala High Court ruled that the Waqf Board's action of declaring the Munambam property as waqf was "bad in law." The court allowed the government to proceed with implementing the recommendations of a commission led by retired High Court judge CN Ramachandran Nair, appointed in November 2024 to resolve the row.
This commission had noted that decades of sea and river erosion had substantially reduced the 404-acre claim. It recommended in May 2025 that if residents lost the court case, the government should acquire the disrupted land in their favor. Following the High Court verdict, agitators obtained a directive for the state revenue department to accept land tax from them, a key victory.
However, the legal fight is not entirely over. The Kerala Waqf Samrakshana Vedhi moved the Supreme Court on November 19, challenging the High Court's division bench directive. This petition remains pending. Furthermore, while the main protest body, the Munambam Bhoo Samrakshana Samithi, called off the agitation, another group, seen as BJP-supported, has begun a fresh agitation for continued protests.
The resolution of the 414-day Munambam protest marks the end of a chapter in a complex saga intertwining land rights, religious endowments, and political maneuvering, yet the final word rests with the Supreme Court.
