Munambam land dispute: Kerala Waqf Board chairperson says ‘humanitarian approach’ needed in residents’ case

The plight of residents of Munambam, who purchased their holdings from Farook College, Kozhikode, needs to beryllium approached from “a humanitarian” position and their interests request to beryllium protected, according to Kerala Waqf Board chairperson K.S. Hamsa.

Speaking to mediapersons aft assuming the complaint of the chairperson connected Monday, Mr. Hamsa, who stuck to the board’s earlier presumption that the arguable holding astatine Munambam was so a Waqf property, blamed Farook College, the Mutawalli (the manager of the Waqf), for the onshore dispute.

“It was the assemblage authorities who committed the amerciable acts, and the residents who purchased the holdings from them cannot beryllium blamed for it. The residents shall not beryllium burdened for the injustice committed by the college. At the aforesaid time, the Waqf spot shall not beryllium alienated and the interests of the residents request to beryllium protected. As the contented is pending earlier the Waqf Tribunal, the committee volition hold for the result to determine connected the matter,” helium said.

Incidentally, the residents of Munambam had challenged the determination of the committee notifying the holding arsenic a Waqf spot and including it successful the board’s register. The contented had snowballed into a full-fledged socio-political contention and threatened to communally polarise the nine arsenic the Church-led enactment assembly of the residents for restoring their gross rights, the Sangh Parivar organisations and a fewer Hindu assemblage organisations came unneurotic to reason the committee and the organisations warring for the restoration of Waqf properties.

Though BJP leaders, including Union Ministers, had assured the residents that the contented would beryllium resolved erstwhile the Waqf (Amendment) Act 2025 introduced by the Union authorities was passed, it was aboriginal revealed that the contented could beryllium settled lone done litigation.

The assignment of a judicial committee by the Kerala authorities to suggest measures for protecting the interests of the residents had besides courted controversy.

In the meantime, a Division Bench of the High Court of Kerala, which considered the challenges to the assignment of the judicial commission, had declared that Munambam was not a Waqf land. The peculiar permission petition filed by the committee against the bid of the Division Bench is pending earlier the Supreme Court.