V D Satheesan: 'I Warned Christians A Church Bill Would Come Soon'

'The Web portal of the Organiser, the RSS mouthpiece, published an article (withdrawn later) that the Christian community holds many acres of land, far more than Waqf property.'

IMAGE: Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, left with the Bharatiya Janata Party's Kerala president Rajeev Chandrasekhar, addresses a press conference on the Waqf Act in Kochi, April 15, 2025. Photograph: ANI Photo

Munambam, a major fishing harbour in Kochi, is described by Wikipedia as 'a suburb of Kochi at the north end of Vypeen Island, surrounded by the Arabian on the west, Periyar river on the east, and a mouth of the sea on the north'.

More than 600 families have been protesting in Munambam for 200 days against the Kerala Waqf Board taking over the 400 acre land their ancestors have lived on for more than 100 years.

After passing the Waqf Amendment Bill, Union Minister for Minority Affairs Kiren Rijiju said in Kochi, 'From now onwards, there will be no cases like Munambam. There will not be an arbitrary declaration of Waqf property. Now any property which is under dispute or under legal proceedings cannot be settled as Waqf property.'

But...

The residents of Munambam were disappointed to hear the minister tell them later that as the dispute for their land is a matter of sub-judice, only the court can settle the issue.

Earlier, the state BJP had organised a 'Thank you Modi' meet in Munambam.

The residents -- mostly Christians -- who supported the Congress changed their political stance when the state BJP promised them that the new legislation would solve the issue.

"The state government is going on the same path as the Sangh Parivar. They also want to create a divide between the Christian and Muslim communities," Congress leader V D Satheesan, leader of the Opposition in the Kerala assembly, tells Rediff's Shobha Warrier.

You have consistently said that the disputed land in Munambam was not Waqf property though the Waqf Board said otherwise... Even your UDF partner IUML was of the opinion that it was Waqf land..

I am the first person who took the stand that the disputed property was not Waqf land.

The IUML did not take the stand that it was Waqf land. Only one or two Muslim leaders expressed their concern about the stand I have taken.

Let me tell you why I took such a stand.

First, the 1950 deed between the donor, Siddhique Sait and the Farooq College management, was clearly stated as conditional. That is, if the college did not use the land for educational purposes, it could be withdrawn.

An important fact to notice is, in Waqf, there is no condition. Waqf is a permanent dedication of a property by an individual to Allah.

So, if there is any condition, it is not Waqf.

Number two, at the time of the deed, there were people residing in this property. Most of them are the descendants of those who lived there more than 100 years ago. How can a person gift a land as Waqf when people were already residing there? No, you cannot.

Number three. The Farooq College management received money from those who are residing there. After accepting money from them, how can you say it is Waqf?

Number four. This property was not Sait's own property. It was a leased property. When you are only a lessee of a property, you cannot make it Waqf. You can waqf only your own property.

I pointed out these facts after going through a whole lot of documents.

Interestingly, all the political parties and all the religious organisations are of the opinion that you cannot evict the residents from the property, and that they should be given permanent titles to the land.

All the Christian and Muslim organisations, all the political parties, the government of Kerala and even the central government are saying that we should protect those who are living there.

But when you say it is Waqf property, they become encroachers. Then, no government or court can save these people. Because Waqf is waqf, and you can't change that.

On one side, they are saying, it is Waqf and on the other side, they want to protect the residents. How is it possible?

My point is, all these people are playing politics.

IMAGE: Following the passage of the Waqf Amendment Bill by Parliament, Rajeev Chandrasekhar visited Munambam, met the protestors and joined them in their celebrations as they expressed their gratitude to PM Modi. Photograph: Kind courtesy Rajeev Chandrasekhar/X

Do you think the BJP is trying to woo the Christian community away from the Congress and the UDF?

Not only that, they are trying to divide the Christian and Muslim communities so that they get the support of the Christians.

In fact, even before the Waqf Bill was presented in Parliament, I had said that there was no connection between the Munambam issue and the Waqf Amendment Bill.

I had said that even the it becomes an Act, it would not be able to save the people of Munambam.

After the Waqf Amendment Bill, the BJP organised a Thank you Modi meet where many Christians joined the BJP.

Making people join the BJP was playing politics.

But their lie was exposed when Union Minister Kirren Rijju held a press conference in Kochi. I was there at the press conference.

He made it very clear that the Act would not help the people of Munambam as the matter was in the court, and that it was for the court to make a decision.

In fact, he reiterated my stand that the Act would not help the Munambam people.

What is the role of the state government in this whole issue?

They say that they will protect the people.

But the state Waqf Board is under the state government and according to Section 97, the state government has the control over the Waqf Board.

When this matter went to the Waqf Tribunal, both the Sait's family and Farooq College said that it was not Waqf.

And the Tribunal was going to make a very good verdict in favour of the people of Munambam.

Then the Board went to the high court and got a stay till May 29 on all the proceedings before the Tribunal. On the 19th of May, the term of the existing Tribunal will end.

What will happen now? The next Tribunal will be constituted according to the new Waqf Act.

So, when there was an opportunity to protect the interests of the people of Munambam, the Waqf Board under the state government went to the high court saying that it was Waqf property.

It is crystal clear that the Waqf Board and the state government are repeating that it is Waqf property.

My question to the government is, if it is Waqf property, how will you protect the interests of the people?

My accusation is, the state government is going on the same path as the Sangh Parivar.

They also want to make a divide between the Christian and Muslim communities.

What the LDF thinks is, if the BJP penetrates into the Christian community, the UDF will lose some votes. Who will be the beneficiary then? The LDF.

Both the LDF and the BJP are playing politics in the name of these poor people.

IMAGE: People listen to Rajeev Chandrasekhar in Munambam. Photograph: Kind courtesy BJP Kerala/X

You said that the next would be a Church Bill...

Yes, I warned the Christian community that a Church Bill would come soon.

The Congress party also said on the floor of the House after the Waqf Bill was passed on the 3rd of April that if it were to happen, we would take the same stand then also, the secular stand.

The very day, the Web portal of the Organiser, the RSS mouthpiece, published an article (withdrawn later) that the Christian community holds many acres of land, far more than Waqf property.

It also said that the Catholic church was the biggest non-governmental landowner in the country, and that all that was on lease, and it had to be recovered.

I organised a press conference on April 4th morning, and said that after passing the Waqf Bill, they are focussing on Christian properties.

IMAGE: People listen to Kiren Rijiju in Munambam. Photograph: Kind courtesy BJP Kerala/X

What was the response from the Christian community after Kirren Rijju said that the Waqf Bill would not help them?

They expressed their disappointment once they realised what the truth was, and that the Act was not going to help them.

Do you think the Munambam issue will affect the UDF's prospects?

It is not going to affect the UDF at all.

The Muslim community understood the stand taken by us.

Now the Christian community also has realised that the kind of politics played by the BJP and the CPI-M was not in favour of the people of Munambam.

Almost all the bishops expressed their disappointment with the Act.

For the last 4-5 years, the Sangh Parivar has been trying to create a wedge between the Christian and Muslim communities. But they will not be successful because the Christian community in Kerala is educated.