Munambam Waqf row deepens as board registers disputed 404 acres on portal; residents question CM Satheesan's ‘10-minute solution’

Kochi: When Chief Minister V D Satheesan announced after the new UDF government's very first cabinet meeting that the controversial K-Rail SilverLine project would be scrapped, it brought massive relief to thousands of protesting families. By moving to denotify land acquisitions and remove the infamous yellow survey stones, the administration delivered a masterclass in political will, proving that Satheesan was ready to fulfil the bold promises he had made while leading the opposition.

Watching those developments closely were the nearly 600 families near Velankanni Church in Munambam, who had long been fighting the Kerala State Waqf Board’s claim over 404.76 acres of inhabited coastal land. During the peak of their agitation, Satheesan had publicly declared that the Munambam Waqf issue could be resolved in just “ten minutes” if the UDF came to power, claiming that the state government could simply invoke Section 97 of the Waqf Act and pass an order directing the Board to remove the disputed land from its registry.

The residents believed that an explosive intervention, similar to scrapping the K-Rail, would follow once the UDF assumed office with Satheesan as the CM. Many even reminded the Chief Minister of his promise immediately after the swearing-in ceremony.

Instead, the situation has only worsened. In a major escalation, the Kerala State Waqf Board has now uploaded details of the disputed Munambam land into the Union Government’s centralised UMEED portal, digitally reinforcing its claim over the property and deepening fears among residents that the dispute is becoming institutionalised in official national records.

The anger among the affected families has now intensified to the point where the Munambam Land Protection Committee (Bhu Samrakshana Samiti) is preparing to submit a memorandum to the Chief Minister demanding nothing less than the dissolution of the Kerala State Waqf Board, claiming that the registration has only worsened the complication in the long-standing legal fight.

The Munambam agitation itself has already stretched over 413 days, including relay hunger strikes at the local church grounds and massive protest demonstrations along the Vypeen-Munambam State Highway. The roots of the dispute date back to 1950, when Mohammed Siddique Sait reportedly gifted land to Farook College for educational charity purposes.

The controversy intensified in 2019 when the Kerala State Waqf Board claimed the entire 404.76 acres of land was Waqf land. Matters escalated further in 2021 after village offices allegedly stopped accepting routine land tax payments from residents.

The latest flashpoint emerged following an April 26, 2026, meeting of the Kerala State Waqf Board, where a decision was taken to upload all registered Waqf assets into the centralised UMEED digital platform as part of a nationwide digitisation drive. Among the entries uploaded was Registration Number 41 — the disputed Munambam land claim.

Although the original deadline for registration was May 17, it was later extended by another month. However, the Board uploaded the Munambam records before the initial deadline expired, triggering outrage among residents who viewed the move as a deliberate attempt to strengthen the Board’s position and complicate the case before any political intervention could occur.

Munambam Land Protection Committee convener Joseph Benny alleged that the Waqf Board Chairman recently declared in Kozhikode that ‘there is a Supreme Court verdict stating that the Munambam land is Waqf property’. “Therefore, our demand is that the Waqf Board Chairman, who is acting irresponsibly in a legally sensitive position by misusing his office, and who has not conducted a proper study on this matter, as well as this entire Waqf Board, which illegally entered the Munambam property into the Waqf register, must be dissolved. We will move forward with a strong agitation to achieve this,” Benny said.

Benny also questioned why, while the government acted immediately in the case of K-Rail, they remain silent on Munambam. “In the very first cabinet meeting, a decision was made to terminate the SilverLine project, remove the yellow survey stones, and cancel the land acquisition notifications. A solution to the Munambam Waqf issue should be found using that exact same cabinet model,” Benny said.

The committee has now decided to directly approach the Chief Minister seeking the dissolution of the Kerala State Waqf Board, accusing it of making damaging and incomplete decisions while bypassing ongoing judicial scrutiny.

For residents like Jessy Xavier, the prolonged uncertainty has turned daily life into a psychological and financial nightmare. “We have lived on this land for decades. We bought it legally, built our homes with our sweat, and raised our children here. Now, to wake up every day and be told that our roofs belong to a religious board we have nothing to do with is a living hell. We cannot get a bank loan for our children's education, we cannot transfer our own property, and we are being treated like illegal squatters in our own homes. How long must we survive on temporary court orders while politicians fail to keep their promises?” she asked.

However, Kerala State Waqf Board Chairperson K S Hamza has strongly defended the Board’s actions and dismissed allegations that Munambam was being selectively targeted.

Speaking to Onmanorama, Hamza said the Board would only respond to statements made by “responsible people” in government, refusing to comment on the residents' allegations. “On this matter, we do not intend to intervene like that or to give replies to people’s opinions. We will give replies only if it is being said by responsible people like the ministers or chief minister,” he said.

Defending the timing of the UMEED upload, Hamza insisted that the Board acted before the May 17 deadline because it had no knowledge that an extension would later be granted. “The deadline was extended on the 17th, just a few days ago. We uploaded the documents on the previous day. We did not know at that time that an extension would be granted,” he added.

Hamza also maintained that the Board’s position was legally protected because the Supreme Court had stayed an earlier Kerala High Court verdict that went against the Waqf claim.

“The verdict that stands at the very last regarding the Munambam property being Waqf, is that of the Supreme Court. With that, the Supreme Court has accepted the arguments of the Board. So, what stands last is the position that it is Waqf. Therefore, all Waqf properties must be registered and entered into the UMEED portal. That is only an entry process. And keeping it entered is the responsibility of the Board,” he said.

He further argued that Munambam was not an isolated case, pointing out that Kerala had become the first state in the country to complete the digitisation of nearly 59,000 Waqf properties.

Rejecting attempts to communalise the issue, Hamza said “We don’t have any ego in this. Everyone is like “Christians are living there and we are taking the land over”. There is no meaning here for such references like Christian, Muslim, or anything else here. What is happening here is a routine, regular process. As a part of that, this was also entered in the portal. That is all,” he said.

He added that unless the government issues a directive or the courts weaken the Board’s legal standing, the registration will remain. With the Waqf Board digging in and the residents escalating pressure on the government, the Munambam issue is rapidly emerging as another political test before the new Satheesan administration after the Malayidom Thuruth eviction row.