As Kerala government opposes Bill, Christian bodies laud passage

The residents of Munambam have been demanding return of their ownership rights of land that was claimed by Kerala Waqf Board in 2022

Hours after the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, was passed in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, the Catholic Church and other Christian organisations in Kerala welcomed the development and expressed hope that the legislation would help the residents of Munambam regain their ownership rights. Meanwhile, some Muslim organisations and parties like the Congress and CPI(M) slammed the bill’s passage stating that it had no connection to the dispute in the coastal village.

In Munambam, a coastal hamlet in Ernakulam district, nearly 600 families, who are mostly Christian fisherfolk, have been agitating for return of their ownership rights which have remained in limbo since 2022 when the Kerala State Waqf Board claimed ownership of the land on which their homes stood. (REUTERS)

In Munambam, a coastal hamlet in Ernakulam district, nearly 600 families, who are mostly Christian fisherfolk, have been agitating for return of their ownership rights which have remained in limbo since 2022 when the Kerala State Waqf Board claimed ownership of the land on which their homes stood.

The Waqf Board claimed that the contested land in Munambam was gifted by an individual named Siddique Sait as “waqf” to the Farook College in Kozhikode. However, the protesting residents in Munambam claimed that they bought parcels of land from the college management and have access to title deeds attesting to the purchases. The row arose when the local village panchayat suspended the payment of land tax and banks declined loans to residents on the said land since 2022.

“A constitutionally-elected government has taken a decision to amend the (Waqf) law. That decision has been taken by understanding the pain of the people (in Munambam). We support it and welcome it,” said Fr Antony Vadakkekara, spokesman of the Church.

“Donating a land as waqf is part of the belief of a religious community. We are not questioning it. They have the full rights to believe in it and propagate it. But we opposed it only when that right encroached upon the land revenue rights enshrined by the Constitution,” he added.

Vadakkekara underlined that the Church’s support for the legislation must not be viewed as “open support for any political party” or “opposition to any religious belief”.

Joseph Benny, convenor of the protest committee at Munambam, said he and his fellow protesters were “very happy” and “relieved” that the bill was passed in Lok Sabha and will soon become a law.

“We strongly believe our problems will be solved now. At the same time, it has pained us that most of the MPs from Kerala, who should have been our voice, voted against the bill,” he said.

Fr Thomas Tharayil, spokesperson of the Kerala Catholic Bishops Council (KCBC) which supported the legislation, also said that the MPs from Kerala, belonging to UDF and LDF, voting against the bill “pained us”.

“We urged them to support the bill to resolve the plight of the people, but they didn’t hear it and it pained us,” he said. He added however that the KCBC has ‘no politics’.

IUML, Congress, CPM flay Waqf bill

Syed Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal, state president of the IUML, told reporters that the legislation was “unconstitutional and against the nation”.

“The earlier version of the Waqf bill was brought after several consultations and based on the report of the Sachar committee. But this present amendment bill was brought without due consultations with everyone. It was referred to the JPC but the opposition’s suggestions were not accepted,” he said.

Leader of opposition VD Satheesan said the bill was being used by the BJP to create enmity between two minority communities and the legislation will not solve the issue in Munambam.

“Union minister Kiren Rijiju told the Lok Sabha that the bill has no retrospective effect. So it will clearly have no effect on the dispute in Munambam. We have always maintained that the issue in Munambam can easily be solved within the state if the state government and the state waqf board take a favourable decision. The BJP is merely sowing discord between minorities in Kerala,” he said.

CPI(M) leader and Kerala law minister P Rajeev said the BJP was trying to ‘catch fish in troubled waters.’

“If the bill gets passed in Rajya Sabha and becomes a law, then the strike in Munambam should naturally come to an end. But the bill clearly says it will have no retrospective effect,” he said.