Munambam: The Politics Of Waqf Land

The specter of how the Munambam issue was exploited during the November by-elections is proof of the price Kerala is paying for its emergent politics.
Controversies become the stuff of slow-burn and brinkmanship. The former promises mileage; the latter searches for an advantage, notes Shyam G Menon.

For me, Munambam in Kerala was always a fishing harbour.

I realised it wasn't that simple when in early October, 2024, during a work-related appointment in Kochi, the person I was speaking to suddenly veered off the subject we were discussing and landed in Munambam.

The otherwise pleasant individual, fumed with anger as he highlighted the "nonsense" happening in Munambam, where the popular narrative was that several families could lose their houses because the Waqf Board owned the land their houses stood on.

I had heard of the problem. I knew it was a sensitive issue given the Waqf Board dealt with property donated irreversibly to God and the residents faced with potential loss, were mostly Christian.

I also knew that in recent times, India's political Right-Wing, generally associated with Hindutva and known for its Islamophobia, had been cozying up to Kerala's Christian church.

What took me by surprise that day was the anger displayed; something new for me in Kerala, a state I valued as a refuge for tolerance.

Luckily, after a few minutes of fuming over Munambam and heaping curses on a long dead Jawaharlal Nehru, the person before me cooled down.

I asked him if he was a member of any right-wing organisation, given the way he vented. He said no.

It left me thinking that he was perhaps a consumer of perceptions floating around in the media, social media and the many networks -- physical and virtual -- people subscribe to.

I felt sad; for him, for me, for Kerala. It was one of those moments when one doesn't know why but one sinks.

The problem

Through the rest of October, Munambam stayed on simmer mode. With three by-elections due in mid-November in the state (two to the state assembly and one to the Lok Sabha), the Munambam issue, instead of being addressed decisively by the state government, seemed to court political brinkmanship.

On November 14, The Indian Express published a detailed article on the making of the Munambam controversy.

According to it, the story starts with the Travancore royal family leasing out 404 acres of land already occupied by fisherfolk, to Abdul Sathar Moosa Sait, a trader settled in Mattanchery near Kochi.

In 1948, his successor and son-in-law, Mohamed Siddique Sait, having got the leased land registered in his name. decided to hand it over to Kozhikode's Farook College.

In November 1950, a waqf deed was registered for the purpose and the management of the college got the title deed for the land around a decade later.

In the 1960s, a legal battle erupted between the residents who had been living on the land for years but had no legal documents and the college's management, which sought to evict them.

Subsequently, the college management decided to sell the land to the residents in an out of court deal, at market rate.

Related documents show that the college management did not mention the land as waqf; instead, they showed it as property received in a gift deed.

Following complaints against the state Waqf Board, Kerala's then government instituted the Nissar Commission in 2008.

Its terms of reference included fixing responsibility for assets lost and finding avenues for recovery.

In Its 2009 report, the commission referred to the earlier mentioned Munambam lands, as waqf.

It also said, the college management had approved its sale without the board's consent.

As per the Indian Express article, In 2019, the Waqf Board suo motu declared the Munambam property to be waqf and directed the state's revenue department not to accept land tax from the current occupants.

In 2022, the state government over-ruled this directive to the revenue department but the Waqf Board challenged it in the high court.

The court, for the time being, has stayed the government's decision. As per The Indian Express report, more than a dozen appeals from the contesting sides are pending before the court.

In May 2024, The Quint and in August, Business Standard, published articles explaining how waqf works. According to both these pieces, valid underlying ownership is a prerequisite to a property being donated as waqf.

Indecisive in times of mischief

To a layperson tracking Munambam from far and via general news reportage, it would seem that valid underlying ownership (establishing who actually owns the land) is one half of the answers sought.

The other half pertains to making sure that people don't get evicted and given they have been residents there for long, establishing what all varieties of land use and services thereof (like paying tax, using land as collateral, ensuring inheritance rights) may be possible.

One of my journalist friends insists that the job of government is to do difficult things that others shy away from.

By that yardstick, the state government (at the time of writing) was short of decisive in how it responded to the latest edition of Munambam in the limelight.

Pushed to speak, it asserted that nobody would lose their houses. There seemed to be no explanation alongside on how every affected resident staying put would be guaranteed ownership of his/her property or how said property ownership would be elevated to a level where the owners may pay tax on it or how the land may be leveraged for all uses land is normally leveraged for.

On November 2, 2024, The New Indian Express, quoting V D Satheeshan, leader of the Congress in Kerala, said that the party's declared stand was that the land in question at Munambam was not waqf property.

Satheeshan cited the longstanding record of inhabitation at Munambam, the conditions seen in underlying land documents despite claimed waqf ownership and sale of portion of the claimed waqf assets to buttress his argument that the land was not waqf.

Satheeshan said that if it wanted, the state could solve the issue quickly. The Left Democratic Front (LDF) government, appeared to wait, watch and speak; an approach that harked of protecting itself more than those affected by the controversy.

It possibly has a context -- the Communist Party of India Marxist enjoys power and sizable presence in Kerala alone.

In Bengal, where the party ruled for long, it currently has zero representation in the assembly.

As Kerala's politics shifted from two political fronts to three with the entry of the BJP and its subsequent gains, the LDF has of late been both protective of its turf and resorting to tactics that may make it attractive to the BJP's voters.

It makes the observer feel that the Left in Kerala worries over what lay in store for it -- will it be secure survival in Kerala or a dose of the Bengal medicine? On the bright side, unlike in Bengal, Kerala hasn't allowed either the LDF or the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) very long tenures in power. Here, governments change.

The angle of being in power for too long and prompting the rise of one's enemies in a fashion that almost finishes a party for good, does not seem applicable; at least not yet.

Meanwhile, the BJP has been exploiting the angle of waqf at Munambam. It suits its brand of Hindutva politics and propagation of the same in Kerala.

Further, as the party in power at the Centre, the BJP has been propelling a bill in Parliament that seeks to alter how the Waqf Board functions.

Grievances like Munambam's play into that alley. For the BJP, there were gains to be had by fishing in Munambam's troubled waters while it contested the November by-elections in the state and piloted the bill in Parliament.

Amidst this, according to media reports, leaders of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML -- it is a partner in the UDF) assured Munambam residents that nobody would lose their property.

That was a fine gesture. But without the state's heft to back such assurance, its effectiveness would appear blunted.

The reason is simple -- as any observer would think, if these properties are waqf and yet must merit all the avenues of use, land ownership traditionally enjoys, then an official exemption may be required for these lands.

For the Waqf Board, anything of this sort could end up being a tricky legal precedent. Or, the matter has to be investigated in depth and if the underlying reality is as the Congress's Satheeshan has said, then further action should be on those lines. Bottomline -- there is a need for clarity and conclusiveness.

Indeed, for consumers of news, one of the hurdles already experienced in the Munambam issue is the absence of a singular, reliable, narrative.

One must assemble perspective brick by brick, from multiple sources. A November 11, 2024, report in The Wire by K M Seethi, mentions more details regarding the Munambam land.

According to this report, in the 1960s when disputes surfaced and tenants questioned Farook College's authority, a case was filed in the subordinate judge's court in Paravur, questioning the waqf status of the land.

In 1971, the court ruled in favour of the college confirming the property as waqf and meant for educational purposes.

The ruling was further upheld in 1975 by the high court. Despite this, the college management continued to engage in land transactions under the pretext that the land was a gift deed.

In 2019, when the Waqf Board registered the land in its name, residents approached the court saying the move infringed on their property rights.

'They argued that the original Waqf deed did not explicitly transfer ownership to the Waqf Board but rather vested rights with the managing committee of the college,' the Wire article said.

In 2022, a single bench of the Kerala high court 'briefly allowed' the residents to resume paying property tax.

Following an appeal by the Kerala Waqf Protection Forum, this ruling was stayed. The forum argued that continued tax payment may 'complicate the Waqf Board's efforts to reclaim the property.'

This article also pointed out another angle. 'Further adding to the precariousness of the situation, in December 2022, the LDF Minister in-charge of Waqf, V Abdurahman responded to a submission by Indian Union Muslim League leader K P A Majeed, affirming the government's stance to reclaim what he asserted as Waqf land.

Yet, interestingly, both LDF and IUML leaders have since changed their positions, publicly expressing support for the affected families and questioning the land's Waqf status, a rhetorical somersault likely influenced by the looming bye-elections,' the article said.

Avoidable comments

Unlike the UDF and LDF, for the BJP, wetting its feet in Munambam's waters, is a case of points scored anyway.

Taking up the cause of those fearing loss of property at Munambam endears the party to sections of the electorate.

At the same time, just being associated with the controversy is in line with the importance the party attaches to the Waqf Bill in Parliament.

On November 10, The Indian Express reported about Suresh Gopi, BJP's MP from Thrissur and currently its trophy politician from Kerala, campaigning in Wayanad, location of one of the by-elections of November: 'Addressing BJP's election campaign in Wayanad, where Priyanka Gandhi was the Congress candidate, Gopi referred to Waqf as 'kiratham (brutality)' that is confined in four English alphabets.'

He was referring to the Kerala Waqf Board's claim over 400 acres of land in Munambam, which is currently in the possession of 600-odd families most of them Christian.

'It is not at Munambam alone... This brutality will be suppressed in India... There would be harsh decisions. To uphold the true Constitution, this Bill (Waqf Bill) will be passed in Parliament,' Gopi said, accordig to the Indian Express report.

On the same day, Mathrubhumi English reported on its Web site that the Congress had filed police complaints against Gopi and B Gopalakrishnan, state vice president of the BJP, for inflammatory comments made while campaigning in Wayanad.

Gopalakrishnan, according to the Mathrubhumi report, allegedly wove Sabarimala, among Kerala's biggest pilgrimages (a storm over the entry of women at Sabarimala was political fuel for the BJP in 2018-2019), into the waqf controversy.

The report said: 'Gopalakrishnan's statement allegedly referenced the Sabarimala temple, saying: "I have a doubt. Tomorrow, will they claim that Ayyappa's land also belongs to the Waqf? There's a companion of Ayyappa sitting below the pathinettam padi. If that companion, Vavar, says, 'I have temporarily given this land to the Waqf,' then tomorrow, Sabarimala will belong to the Waqf, and Ayyappa would have to leave. Should we allow this?

Pathinettam padi refers to the eighteen steps leading to the sanctum sanctorum. On November 11, in an interview to a YouTube channel, senior journalist M G Radhakrishnan, outlined how the story of Vavar (he was a Muslim) in the context of Sabarimala, actually signified communal harmony and friendship between religions.

It must be mentioned here that notwithstanding likely flip-flop, some observers find the IUML's restrained stance on Munambam dignified.

On November 15, 2024, Mathrubhumi reported on its (English) Web site that an article written by the secretary of the Sunni Yuvajana Sangham (SYS -- it is the youth wing of the Samastha Kerala Jam-iyyathul Ulama [Samastha], a prominent Muslim community organization), published in the Samastha's publication, Suprabhaatham, had said that waqf land should not be the subject of negotiations between parties with vested interests.

Between mileage and advantage

On November 12, The New Indian Express reported that the Waqf Board had sent notices to five families in Thavinjal gram panchayat near Mananthawady in Wayanad.

The notices were issued after complaints received on October 10 of 4.7 acres in 5.77 acres of waqf land, encroached upon.

The families were required to submit relevant documents by November 16. The same report said that the Catholic Church has decided to intensify its demand for implementation of the Waqf Amendment Bill 2024.

It quoted Father Antony Vadakkekkara, public relations officer of the Syro-Malabar Church: 'Munambam is just one piece of a larger puzzle. Now the dispute at Thavinjal panchayat in Wayanad has come out. According to reports available, Waqf land issues persist in 23 locations across Kerala with Munambam ranking 15th on the list. It is concerning to see individuals who had legally purchased and owned land for many years are now facing potential eviction due to claims made by Waqf, warranting proper amendments to ensure equal justice for all,' he said.

Kerala, known for its share of Left politics, was always riddled with religion and politics. Below the surface and sometimes visibly above it, religion not only thrived but in the case of several regional political parties, was also perceived as part of their political fabric.

There were people critical of this nexus. Many in Kerala didn't -- and still don't -- like the cocktail of religion and politics. However, the earlier local avatar of politics walking with religion, rarely courted mischief or exploited tinder with the appetite witnessed now.

In recent years, the state's electoral battles have transformed from featuring two sides in the main, to three.

The earlier equation of the LDF and the UDF having supporters across all communities is now challenged by the BJP's approach (born from its need to muscle in) of its constituency plus others stitched on opportunistically.

This is why issues like Munambam need an inclusive and wise solution. One that leaves no time or room for mischief mongers from any party, to exploit the matter further.

The specter of how the Munambam issue was exploited during the November by-elections, is proof of the price Kerala is paying for its emergent politics.

Controversies become the stuff of slow-burn and brinkmanship. The former promises mileage; the latter searches for an advantage.

Post script: onmanorama.com reported on November 18 that the top leadership of the Indian Union Muslim League and senior representatives of the Latin Catholic Bishops Council met at the Varapuzha Archdiocese to seek an amicable solution for the Munambam problem.

The report quoted P K Kunhalikutty, the IUML's national general secretary: 'We concluded the meeting with a clear intent to end the crisis. We found no major complications in the Munambam issue, only technical challenges that can be addressed at the state government level.'

'After the elections, we plan to approach the government with the ideas formulated during the meeting.'

The report quoted Kozhikode Diocese Bishop, Reverend Dr Varghese Chakkalakkal: 'Both IUML leaders and we share optimism that the matter can soon be resolved through government and legal avenues.'

'We appreciate IUML leaders attending the meeting. Maintaining communal harmony is crucial here, as this is not a communal issue but a humanitarian one.'

According to the report, IUML state President Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal cautioned that delays in addressing the issue could aggravate the problem.

'The government must take immediate steps to resolve the issue. Legal and technical challenges exist, but a meeting with all affected parties can help address them,' he was quoted as saying in the report.

Shyam G Menon is a freelance journalist based in Mumbai.

Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com