Christian body backs Waqf Bill
Ahead of its much-anticipated tabling in the Lok Sabha this session, a top Christian body on Monday backed the controversial Waqf Amendment Bill 2024, urging political parties to take an unbiased approach to the issue.
The Catholic Bishops Conference of India, in a rare statement of support that backs the BJP-led NDA government’s case for the Waqf law amendments, demanded that the legislation offer a solution to a long festering land dispute in Ernakulam between the Kerala State Waqf Board on one side and some 600 Christians and Hindus on the other.
The dispute pertains to around 400 acre of land in Kerala’s Ernakulam district where the state waqf board claims ownership over 404 acre of land in Ernakulum’s Munambam coast, an area that has long been inhabited by hundreds of Hindu and Christian families.
“It is a reality that certain provisions in the existing Central Waqf Act are inconsistent with the Constitution and the secular democratic values of the country. In Kerala, the Waqf Board has invoked these provisions to declare the ancestral residential properties of more than 600 families in the Munambam region as Waqf land,” CBCI spokesperson Robinson Rodrigues said in a statement today.
The statement titled “Waqf law amendment should provide a permanent solution to land issues including Nunambam”, the CBCI said that over the past three years, this Munabam land issue has escalated into a complex legal dispute. “The fact remains that only a legal amendment can provide a permanent solution, and this must be recognized by the people’s representatives. As the Waqf Amendment Bill is set to be introduced in Parliament, CBCI urges political parties and legislators to adopt an unbiased and constructive approach to this issue,” the top Christian body said today.
It added that the rightful ownership of land must be fully restored to the people of Munambam. “Any provisions or laws that contradict the principles of the Indian Constitution must be amended. At the same time, the rights of religious minorities, as guaranteed by the Constitution, must be safeguarded,” the CBCI added.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) is a crucial body as it serves as the national episcopal body, representing the Latin Catholic Church in India.
