lop-satheesan-slams-centre-left-over-munambam-land-row

Congress leader V D Satheesan on Thursday alleged that while the central government "cheated" the people of Munambam village, the Left government in Kerala "betrayed" them.

 

The Leader of Opposition in the assembly further claimed that the BJP was trying to create "Islamophobia" through the Munambam issue, and that the Pinarayi Vijayan-led state government was supporting such attempts.

 

Satheesan stated that he and the Congress-led UDF had maintained from the beginning that the recent amendments to the Waqf Act would not help Munambam residents in their struggle for land rights, as the land in question did not belong to the Waqf.

 

However, he alleged that the Centre misled residents by suggesting that the amended Waqf law would resolve their issue, while the Left government had the State Waqf Board assert that the land was indeed part of the Waqf.

 

“So, on one hand, Pinarayi Vijayan claimed he would protect the people of Munambam, and on the other, he made the Board declare the land as Waqf property. That is their double standard,” Satheesan said.

 

“If it is Waqf land, then the people there will be labelled as encroachers. Therefore, the central government cheated them, and the Left government betrayed them. We have supported the Munambam residents’ agitation from the very beginning,” he told reporters.

 

The residents of Munambam village in Ernakulam district—who are mostly Christians—have been agitating for several months, alleging that the Waqf Board is unlawfully claiming ownership of their land and properties, despite them holding registered sale deeds and valid land tax payment receipts.

 

Satheesan further claimed that if the UDF came to power, the Munambam residents' issue “would be resolved in 10 minutes.”

 

“I was ridiculed for saying that. But it is possible. All the government needs to do is direct the Board to take the stand that the land is not part of the Waqf. Even the current government can do that,” he added.

 

He also alleged that while both the donor and the donee of the land had submitted before the Waqf Tribunal that the land did not belong to the Waqf, the Board—at the behest of the state government—secured a stay from the Kerala High Court, halting further proceedings in the tribunal until May 29.

 

“The tribunal, whose term ends on May 19, would likely have ruled in favour of the Munambam residents, but the state government prevented that,” he alleged.