When Waqf land claims turned lives upside down in Kerala and Karnataka

For decades, families in Kerala's Munambam and Karnataka's Vijayapura have fought legal battles over land they have lived on for generations - land now claimed as Waqf property

No sooner after the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025 was passed in the Parliament, past land disputes involving Christian and Hindu communities in Kerala and Karnataka came under renewed focus.

 

For decades, families in Kerala’s Munambam and Karnataka’s Vijayapura have fought legal battles over land they have lived on for generations — land which are now claimed as waqf property. With Christian organisations and farmers raising concerns about land rights and ownership, the new amendments to the Waqf Act have sparked fresh debate over transparency, governance, and community interests. 

With the new law now in effect, here’s a look at two key land disputes that shook two states:

 

Kerala land dispute: 600 families caught in legal limbo 

The fishing villages of Munambam and Cherai in Kerala’s Ernakulam district have been home to nearly 610 families — primarily Christians from the Latin Catholic community and backward Hindu groups — for over a century. But a long-standing land dispute has left these families fearing eviction, with the Kerala Waqf Board staking their claim on the ownership of 404 acres of land in the area.  

 

Origin of the Kerala land dispute 

The land was originally leased in the year 1902 by the royal family of Travancore to a trader, Abdul Sathar Moosa Sait, and later transferred to his successor, Mohammed Siddeeq Sait. In 1950, Sait donated the land through a waqf deed to Farook College, an educational institution established to serve the Muslim community.

 

However, a legal battle erupted in the late 1960s when the college sought to evict residents who had been living on the land for generations. To settle the dispute, the college agreed to sell the land to its occupants at market rates, and residents purchased their plots over time. But the sale documents made no mention of the land being waqf property, a detail that would later resurface as a major point of contention.

 

How the controversy resurfaced 

In 2008, the Kerala government appointed the Nissar Commission to investigate irregularities in waqf Board land management. The 2009 commission report deemed the Munambam land as waqf property and called for its recovery, arguing that the Farook College management had sold the land without board approval.  

 

Based on this report, the Kerala Waqf Board unilaterally declared the land as waqf property in 2019, citing Sections 40 and 41 of the Waqf Act, 1995. This led to a freeze on land tax payments, making it impossible for residents to sell, mortgage, or legally use their properties.  

 

Karnataka farmers’ battle: A ‘clerical error’ or land misappropriation? 

Meanwhile, in Karnataka’s Vijayapura district, another waqf land dispute sparked widespread protests from farmers. The issue escalated when over 1,200 acres of ancestral farmland in Honavada and Indi Taluk were suddenly marked as waqf property in land records, leaving hundreds of farmers facing potential displacement.

 

How Vijayapura waqf land dispute unfolded   

Farmers in Vijayapura, holding generations-old land documents, were shocked when they received notices from the Tehsildar on October 4, 2023, stating that their land was now under waqf jurisdiction. According to reports, the name of the Karnataka State Board of waqfs was inserted in official land records overnight, without prior notification or hearings.

 

An investigation by News18 revealed that between September and October 2023, land records for 44 properties were altered without informing 433 farmers across 124 survey numbers. This raised concerns about the lack of transparency in waqf land registration.

 

Karnataka govt calls it a ‘mistake’ 

Following protests, Karnataka Cabinet Minister MB Patil claimed that the entire controversy was due to a clerical error in a 1974 gazette notification, which mistakenly listed Honavada village as waqf property. He assured farmers that the notices would be withdrawn and that a Deputy Commissioner-led inquiry was already underway.

 

However, the Opposition BJP accused the Congress government of allowing land grabs in the name of waqf, with BJP MP Tejasvi Surya alleging that the changes were made following a meeting between Karnataka Waqf Minister BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan and revenue officials.

 

Khan dismissed the allegations, insisting that waqf lands cannot be forcibly acquired and that the issue was being politicised to derail the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025.

 

What does the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025 say? 

With the Bill now passed, the new amendments aim to streamline waqf land governance by introducing: 

- Digitisation of waqf records for better transparency 

- Stricter audits to prevent unauthorised land transfers 

- Legal mechanisms to reclaim illegally occupied waqf properties

 

However, critics argue that the law does not directly address land disputes like those in Kerala and Karnataka, where private owners and farmers have contested waqf claims for decades.