After the ‘Suprabhatham’, the mouthpiece of EK faction of the Samastha (Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama ), ‘Siraj’ of AP faction, in an article asserted that the Munambam land of around 600 families belongs to the Waqf Board and should be taken back from the present owners.
The article, written by OM Tharuvana, published in the ‘Siraj’ daily on Sunday, says the sale of the Waqf land was a criminal conspiracy and that those who bought the land by paying money were cheated. The article says such Waqf properties were sold across the state and the land should be fully recovered. A thorough investigation should be conducted into this, the paper says. In this connection, the Muslim Coordination Committee’s moves are being viewed with suspicion, the article opines
The article further says that the Waqf properties that were in the other hands should be taken back, and at the same time justice should be provided to the victims who purchased those lands without knowing that it was a Waqf property.
The article states that the Waqfs are public property of the community and Waqf properties cannot be sold or inherited under the laws of the country or Islamic law. The article says that the money should be recovered from those who sold the waqf property and the real culprits in the controversy are those who sold the land.
Earlier on Friday, the ‘Suprabhatham’ daily the mouthpiece of EK faction of Samastha (Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama’s) in an article asserted that the Munambam land is Waqf land and a consensus cannot be reached by giving it up.
The article, written by Samastha leader Musthafa Mundupara, claimed that the Munambam land belongs to the Waqf board and rejects the positions of organizations like the Indian Union Muslim League, which have advocated for relinquishing the land as part of a peace deal. The article asserts that the Waqf land should not be subject to negotiations driven by vested interests, adding that the current dispute is being fuelled by vested interest.
“The residents of Munambam are innocent victims in this dispute and deserve justice. However, it is the resort owners and powerful mafia groups who are attempting to seize the land,” the article stated.
The article emphasises that Waqf land, by its very nature, cannot be traded away in exchange for political or communal peace. It expresses concern over the recent decision by the coordination committee of Muslim organizations regarding the Munambam land, stressing that the land should not be given up to satisfy any party. Instead, it insists that the final decision on such matters should be made by religious scholars rather than political entities. The article also criticizes the position of Farook College management on the issue
Samastha (Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama) is an association of eminent Sunni scholars who enjoy the highest support base among Kerala Muslims
The articles asserting that the Munambam land belongs to the Waqf Board and it should be taken back from the present owners came from both factions of the Samastha amid the Roman Catholic Church intensifying its protests against the claim of the Waqf board on the land of around 600 families at Munambam in Ernakulam district and the land row seems to be spreading to more regions in Kerala with the Muslim body staking claim over land in the Wayanad and Thrissur districts of Kerala also.