Will Waqf Amendment Bill solve the problem of Munambam people?

While the aggrieved people of Munamabam are pinning high hopes that section 2A of the Waqf (Amendment) bill will bring relief to them, Congress and CPI(M) leaders were questioning whether the fresh amendments would make any difference.

Thiruvananthapuram: As the BJP government at the Centre highlights the Munambam land row in Kerala while presenting the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, the serious question doing the rounds is whether the amendment will solve the problem over the land ownership of 610 families of the coastal village near Kochi.

While the aggrieved people of Munambam are pinning high hopes that section 2A of the Waqf (Amendment) bill will bring relief to them, Congress and CPI(M) leaders were questioning whether the fresh amendments would make any difference.

According to the Munambam Bhoo Samrakshana Samathi (Munamabam land protection forum), as per section 2A of the amendments Waqf laws will not be applicable to trusts. The Farook College that sold the property to the aggrieved people of Munambam was managed by a trust. Hence the land would not come under the purview of the Waqf law and the Waqf board's claims will not be valid, the forum leaders point out.

However, legal sources point out that the claim of the Waqf Samrakshana Samathi (Waqf protection forum) and the Waqf board is that trader Siddique Sait donated the land at Munambam in 1950 as Waqf by considering the Farook College management as 'Mutawalli' (caretaker as per the Waqf laws). Hence that has to be disproved to settle the row.

Kerala law minister and CPI(M) leader P Rajeev said that the Waqf law amendments would not solve the Munambam issues as it pertained only to Waqf properties owned by the government.

Congress MP Hibi Eden told DH though he specifically asked union home minister Amit Shah and minority affairs minister Kiren Rijiju whether the amendments could solve the problem of the Munambam people, there was no specific reply. "I'm only happy if the problems of the people of Munamabam are resolved," he said.

Meanwhile,  the BJP state leadership is trying to cash in on the opportunity. BJP state leaders including state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar are visiting Munamabam on Friday. The Munamabam land protection forum is also organising a reception for them.