A group of mainly Catholic villagers ended a relay hunger strike lasting more than a year after the Kerala High Court temporarily restored their right to pay tax on land they say they lawfully own. The protest, which ran for 414 days in the coastal community of Munambam in Ernakulam district, was suspended on 30 November following the court’s latest interim order.
More than 600 families, including Catholics and Hindus, have been disputing a claim by the Kerala State Waqf Board, which argues that large areas of the village are waqf property, a form of Islamic charitable endowment. Residents insist they bought their plots between 1988 and 1993 and have lived there peacefully ever since.
Father Antony Xavier, parish priest of Valankanny Matha Church, which stands on the contested land, said the villagers welcomed the court’s direction for the authorities to resume accepting land tax. He added that the protest could resume if officials fail to follow the ruling.
Two state ministers, P. Rajeeve and K. Rajan, attended the gathering where the fast was formally brought to an end, offering lemon juice to protest leaders and assuring the community of the government’s support.
Tensions rose sharply in 2022 when the Revenue Department stopped taking land tax payments after the Waqf Board asserted that around 163 hectares of land in Munambam should be treated as waqf. Under Islamic law, such property is considered permanently dedicated to religious or charitable purposes and cannot be sold or transferred. Villagers say the land was not recorded as waqf when they purchased it, and that it appeared on official lists only in 2008.
In October, a division bench of the High Court dismissed the Waqf Board’s position and upheld the villagers’ ownership. The more recent ruling ordered the Revenue Department to act in line with that earlier judgment while final appeals are ongoing.
The Kerala Waqf Protection Forum has since taken the matter to India’s Supreme Court, arguing that the High Court should not have intervened because disputes of this kind fall under the authority of the Waqf Tribunal.
Although the main fast has been paused, a smaller group of villagers linked to the Bharatiya Janata Party has launched a new round of protests, saying they will continue until the community’s ownership rights are secured without question.
Adapted from UCA News.
