Wakf row: CBCI seeks permanent resolution for Munambam land dispute

New Delhi: The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) on Monday urged for a permanent resolution to the Munambam land dispute and said that the rightful ownership ‘must be fully restored to the people’.

“It is a reality that certain provisions in the existing Central Wakf Act are inconsistent with the Constitution and the secular democratic values of the country. In Kerala, the Wakf Board has invoked these provisions to declare the ancestral residential properties of more than 600 families in the Munambam region as Wakf land,” the CBCI said in a statement.

CBCI asked political parties and legislators to adopt an unbiased and constructive approach to the issue as the Wakf Amendment Bill is set to be introduced in the Parliament. 

The Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council (KCBC) on Saturday raised a similar demand urging legislators to vote for the rightful demand of people of Munambam. It said that the laws that deny their right to claim ownership of their ancestral land should be amended. KCBC urged the Kerala MPs to take a favourable stance when the Wakf Bill tables in the Parliament. 

The Munambam land dispute is a long-standing legal issue that began over three decades ago. The management of Farook College, which sold the land to Munambam residents, maintains that the land was received as a gift. However, under the existing Waqf Act, claims can be raised against such properties, causing uncertainty for the residents.

Meanwhile, the Kerala BJP on Sunday hailed the KCBC’s decision to ask MPs from the state to vote in favour of the Wakf Amendment Bill.