Waqf Bill: In Double Whammy, Congress May Lose Muslim & Christian Support In Kerala, Courtesy BJP

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Last Updated:April 03, 2025, 18:08 IST

Congress’s catch-22 concern successful Kerala tin mostly beryllium attributed to BJP’s quiescent outreach to the Church successful the authorities wherever Christians signifier 18.4 per cent of the state’s population

The Congress stands to suffer the fashionable enactment of Muslim voters successful Kerala wherever a immense conception of the assemblage is battling the Waqf Board successful onshore oregon spot disputes. (PTI)

The Waqf Amendment Bill, which was passed successful Lok Sabha connected the intervening nighttime of Wednesday and Thursday, has presented a Catch-22 concern for the Congress successful Kerala. The BJP, which is inactive making inroads successful Kerala politics, checkmated the Congress-led UDF, leaving them with small avenues for escape.

In its pursuit to beryllium seen connected the broadside of Muslims of India, the Congress, ironically, stands to suffer the fashionable enactment of Muslim voters successful Kerala wherever a immense conception of the assemblage is battling the Waqf Board successful onshore oregon spot disputes. On the different hand, different of Congress’s accepted ballot banks that has precocious been dilatory slipping distant successful Kerala — the Christian assemblage — excessively volition beryllium reasonably upset with the Grand Old Party aft its Members of Parliament chose to disregard a KCBC entreaty to ballot successful favour of the amendment.

THE QUIET CHURCH OUTREACH

Congress’s catch-22 concern successful Kerala tin mostly beryllium attributed to BJP’s quiescent outreach to the Church successful the authorities wherever Christians signifier 18.4 per cent of the state’s population. The BJP has been actively engaging with the Christian assemblage successful Kerala, peculiarly the influential Catholic Church, to garner enactment for the Bill. Former Union curate KJ Alphonse and the party’s first-ever MP from the authorities Suresh Gopi are learnt to person reached retired “to region immoderate misunderstandings if 1 whitethorn person astir the Bill".

Sources privy to the substance accidental the focal constituent of this outreach was the Munambam onshore quality successful Ernakulam district. The Kerala State Waqf Board has claimed ownership of astir 400 acres of land, affecting implicit 600 families, predominantly Christians and immoderate Hindus, who person lived determination for generations.

These residents, chiefly fishermen, clasp registered deeds and person paid onshore taxes, yet look ineligible challenges owed to provisions successful the existing Waqf Act of 1995. The quality of the instrumentality allows the Waqf Board to assertion properties it deems arsenic its own, adjacent bypassing civilian courts and relegating disputes to Waqf Tribunals. The transparency and fairness of Waqf Tribunals person been a long-standing contented for galore who indispensable woody with it.

BJP recovered communal crushed with the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council (KCBC), a almighty assemblage representing the Syro-Malabar, Latin, and Syro-Malankara Catholic Churches connected the contented of Munambam onshore dispute, prompting it to backmost the Bill and urging Kerala’s Members of Parliament to enactment the Waqf Amendment Bill, calling definite provisions of the existent Act “unconstitutional and unjust".

Cardinal Baselios Cleemis, KCBC president, cited the Munambam lawsuit wherever Farook College, which primitively sold the land, confirmed it was a gift—not Waqf property. After becoming the authorities president of BJP, 1 of the archetypal meetings of Rajeev Chandrashekhar was connected Tuesday with Cardinal Cleemis, who by past issued the appeal. After gathering him, Chandrashekhar said: “I thanked him for the Kerala Catholic Bishops Council’s entreaty to Kerala MPs to enactment the Waqf Amendment Bill. It is perfectly incorrect and mischievous for anyone to categorise this Bill arsenic against immoderate community…"

Though sources suggest immoderate Kerala Congress MPs reached retired to the Church describing it arsenic “political compulsion", the BJP ensured the Christian assemblage astatine large, and the Church successful particular, are upset with the enactment wherever it was seen disregarding an entreaty by KCBC.

MUSLIMS WON’T BE HAPPY EITHER

Minority affairs curate Kiren Rijiju, portion presenting the amended Bill, went poetic to marque his point: “Meine ek shama jalai hai, hawaon ke khilaf (I person lit a lamp against the unit of the wind)". The unit helium was referring to was not conscionable his governmental hostile who alleged connected the level of the House that the Bill was anti-Muslim but besides organisations similar Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, a premier organisation of Deobandi theological leaning, and Jamat E Islami, which has been astatine the forefront of advocacy against the caller Waqf Bill and preservation of Waqf properties.

It would beryllium ironic to adjacent suggest that the Congress stands to suffer Muslim votes successful Kerala for opposing the Bill. While these organisations person tried to support their grip connected the Waqf Board and hence, would beryllium blessed astir the Congress’s positioning wrong the House, determination is simply a immense conception of victims successful Kerala who hap to beryllium from the Muslim assemblage and are entangled successful ineligible battles with the Waqf committee aft their properties were allegedly taken implicit utilizing the aged law. They would beryllium upset with the Congress.

There are reportedly 40,951 pending cases related to Waqf properties successful Waqf tribunals crossed India arsenic of caller updates. Out of these, astir 9,942 cases person been filed by members of the Muslim assemblage against Waqf Boards. This suggests that astatine slightest 20 per cent of the full disputes impact Muslims challenging the Waqf Boards’ actions oregon claims, specified arsenic encroachment, spot mismanagement oregon ownership disputes.

An estimation suggests that determination are arsenic galore arsenic 1,008 litigations successful Kerala that pertain to Waqf properties. Of these, determination are lone 457 cases wherever non-Muslims are progressive portion determination are a whopping 551 cases wherever Muslims are battling the Waqf strategy successful place, making it a small supra 54 per cent of the full litigations arsenic of the autumn of 2024. These Muslim families privation a just proceeding and seeing Congress bat for a strategy that denied them truthful volition decidedly construe into angst.

In his code astatine the BJP office connected November 23, 2024, pursuing the party’s landslide triumph successful the Maharashtra elections, PM Narendra Modi stated: “Waqf is an enactment of appeasement authorities by the Congress, and it has nary spot successful the Constitution." Members of the Union furniture suggest that aft this legislation, the Waqf’s powerfulness volition beryllium backmost successful the hands of what authorities sources telephone “the archetypal guardians of India’s syncretic values — Sufi, Barelwi and Shia Muslims for whom Waqf has ever been a substance of faith".

Location :

Kerala, India, India

First Published:

April 03, 2025, 11:30 IST

News elections Waqf Bill: In Double Whammy, Congress May Lose Muslim & Christian Support In Kerala, Courtesy BJP