Thiruvananthapuram | Kerala Chief Minister V D Satheesan on Monday assured that residents affected by the Munambam land dispute would not be evicted from their places and said his government would fight legally to protect their rights over the land.
"We have taken a decision that these victims will not be evicted from their places. They will be protected. They will get their land. We will fight for that till the very end," Satheesan told a press conference here.
He said the stand was not new and had been consistently maintained by the UDF even when it was in the Opposition.
"That was our position when we were in the Opposition, and we are continuing with the same stand now," the chief minister said.
Satheesan also alleged that the Waqf Board's decision to register the disputed land on the UMEED portal was politically motivated.
Claiming that the board appointments were made during the previous LDF government's tenure, he alleged that the move was aimed at preventing the present UDF government from resolving the issue "within 10 minutes", as promised by him earlier.
His remarks came a day after Kerala State Waqf Board chairman K S Hamza reiterated that the disputed land at Munambam was Waqf property and said it had been registered on the UMEED portal along with other Waqf assets in the state.
The Munambam land dispute has emerged as a politically sensitive issue in Kerala, with several residents expressing concern over the ownership status of their land.
The BJP has extended support to the protesting residents and claimed that the amended Waqf Act would help address their concerns.
