Ongoing stir by people of Munambam in Kochi
Credit: Special arrangement
Thiruvananthapuram: The BJP's efforts to influence the Christian community of Kerala using the Munambam Waqf land row is suffering a setback as church leaders have expressed concerns that the Waqf law amendment might not bring direct solutions to their woes, as was claimed by the BJP.
The action council of Munambam residents, as well as the prominent Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, have openly expressed their concerns soon after Union Minister for Minority Affairs Kiren Rijiju visited Munambam on Tuesday.
Syro-Malabar Church spokesperson Father Antony Vadakekkara said on Wednesday that it was unfortunate that the Waqf law amendment was not bringing direct relief in reinstating the revenue rights of the families of Munambam on their land. He also accused some political party leaders of misleading the people, and that could be the reason for some emotional support in favour of those parties. Political parties could be having political motives while interfering in such issues, he said.
Fr Antony Tharayil, who is the vicar of the church at Munambam and a leader of the Munambam residents' action council, also reacted that the residents were expecting a direct solution to their issue from the Waqf law amendment. But even the Union Minister who visited them could not give a direct solution.
The action council leaders also said that the Union Minister assured to give a note on the legal solutions possible to address their concern.
The statements of the Church are a shot in the arm for the Congress-led United Democratic Front and the CPM-led Left Democratic Front in Kerala, as both the fronts have been claiming that the Waqf law amendment would not solve the Munambam land row as claimed by the BJP.
Earlier, various Christian forums including the Kerala Catholic Bishops' Council and the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) had strongly backed the Waqf law amendment, especially by citing the Munambam issue.
Around 610 families of Munambam, almost all of them from the Latin Catholic community, are aggrieved over the Waqf Board's claim on the lands they purchased many decades back from Kozhikode-based Farook College management. The land was given to the college management by a trader, Siddique Sait, in 1950. Though the college management claims that it was donated as a gift deed, in some court documents pertaining to the land it was mentioned as Waqf land. The matter is now under consideration of the state Waqf tribunal.
The aggrieved people of Munambam were pinning hopes that the new clause in the amended law (Section 2A), that Waqf laws will not be applicable to trusts, would bring relief to them as the Farook College management was a trust. But since the amendments did not have retrospective effect, it might not bring relief to them.