Kochi | Within days of the UDF government taking charge, the land dispute between the residents of Munambam village in Ernakulam district and the Kerala Waqf Board has reared its head with the chairman of the statutory body on Sunday claiming the area in question is a Waqf property.
Kerala State Waqf Board chairman K S Hamza told a TV channel here that there is no dispute that the Munambam land is Waqf property and all such properties in the state have been registered on the UMEED portal to safeguard them.
The Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development (UMEED) portal is a centralised digital platform launched by the Union Ministry of Minority Affairs for the registration, real-time verification, and monitoring of Waqf properties across India.
Hamza said there are disputes regarding Waqf status of some lands, but irrespective of that, all properties which the Board considers to be Waqf have been registered on the portal.
He also claimed that the latest Supreme Court order and its preliminary findings regarding the Munambam land are in line with the Board's stand that it is a Waqf property.
"Once the Supreme Court rules that it is Waqf property, then every citizen of India has to abide by that. In that situation, I do not think Kerala Chief Minister V D Satheesan would have a contrary view," the Board chairman contended.
He was responding to a query regarding Satheesan's vocal stand, when he was the opposition leader, that the Munambam land was not Waqf property.
The cropping up of the issue now may also spell trouble for Satheesan as he had claimed that the whole dispute can be resolved in 10 minutes when the UDF comes to power in the state.
Regarding the plight of the nearly 600 families living in Munambam, Hamza said that real issue is who was the culprit responsible for selling the waqf property which could not have been sold in the first place.
The BJP extended its support to the Munambam residents, who are mostly Christians, claiming that the amended Waqf Act would solve their problems.