The state court temporarily restored land rights last month, dismissing the ownership claims of the Islamic Waqf Board 
Kerala state Law Minister P. Rajeeve and Revenue Minister K. Rajan offer lemon juice to protest leader Benny Joseph on Nov. 30 to formally end a relay hunger strike on its 414th day after a state court temporarily restored land rights that were stripped nearly five years ago after a Muslim charitable body laid claim to their coastal village. (Photo: supplied)
Predominantly Catholic protesters in southern India have ended a relay hunger strike on its 414th day after a state court temporarily restored land rights they say were stripped from them nearly five years ago after a Muslim charitable body laid claim to their coastal village.Kerala state Law Minister P. Rajeeve and Revenue Minister K. Rajan offer lemon juice to protest leader Benny Joseph on Nov. 30 to formally end a relay hunger strike on its 414th day after a state court temporarily restored land rights that were stripped nearly five years ago after a Muslim charitable body laid claim to their coastal village. (Photo: supplied)
More than 600 families in Munambam, a fishing village in Kerala’s Ernakulam district, have been protesting since 2023 against the Kerala State Waqf Board’s assertion that large portions of their land are waqf property — religious endowment land under Islamic law.
The villagers, including many Catholics and Hindus, say they legally purchased the plots between 1988 and 1993 and have lived there for decades.
Father Antony Xavier, parish priest of the Valankanny Matha Church located on the disputed land, said the strike was suspended on Nov. 30 following a Kerala High Court order directing authorities to resume accepting land tax from residents as an interim measure.
“We have called off our indefinite relay hunger strike in view of the High Court order that restored our revenue rights on a temporary basis,” Xavier told UCA News. “If there is any hurdle again, we will not hesitate to resume the protest.”
Kerala's Law Minister P. Rajeeve and Revenue Minister K. Rajan formally ended the fast by offering lemon juice to protest leaders, assuring them that the state government would support the villagers’ claim.
The dispute escalated after the Revenue Department, in January 2022, stopped accepting land tax payments, citing the Waqf Board’s claim.
The board claimed some 163 hectares (404 acres) of land in the village was waqf, property gifted for charity, which under Islamic Sharia law is a permanent dedication that cannot be further gifted, inherited, sold or otherwise alienated.
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