Munambam land row: Commission schedules hearing for January

Kochi: The Commission of Inquiry has scheduled its hearing for January 2025 in connection with the Munambam land row. Notices have been sent to the petitioners, who must finalise their stance within two weeks, reported Manorama News.

Additionally, notice has been issued to Farook College, the Wakf Board and the Wakf Samrakshana Samithi (Wakf Protection Forum). The residents of Munambam are also required to determine their position within two weeks. The petitioners should reach the collectorate in Ernakulam on the day.

The commission was formed to identify the present nature and extent of the property included in old survey number 18/1 of the then Vadakkekara Village of the erstwhile Travancore state. It will also inquire and report on how to protect the rights and interests of the bonafide occupants of the land and recommend the measures to be taken by the government in that regard.

The dispute began in 2019 when the Wakf Board claimed ownership over land allegedly donated to Farook College in Kozhikode by Siddique Sait in 1950. The residents, who bought the land before the Wakf Act was introduced in 1954, claim that they legally purchased it from the college management and that it was not classified as Wakf property then.

By 2022, these families could not pay land taxes at the village office, but a temporary intervention by the state government allowed them to proceed. However, the Wakf Samrakshana Samathi contested this decision, resulting in a court order that paused tax payments. The residents petitioned the high court, seeking intervention in declaring certain sections of the Wakf Act unconstitutional. The ongoing legal proceedings have heightened tensions in the predominantly Christian community.