"Help people rather than play appeasement politics": Kerala BJP chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar tells MPs to take stand on Waqf issue

New Delhi [India], March 31 (ANI): Kerala BJP President Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Monday said that many Christian organisations, including the Kerala Catholic Bishops Council (KCBC), are extending support to the Waqf Amendment Bill proposed by the centre after poor families in Munambam suburb claimed to be living under the threat of their land being seized by Waqf board. He urged the MPs in the state to assist people instead of engaging in "appeasement politics".
"Kerala Catholic Bishop's Council and many other Christian organisations are asking the MPs from Kerala to take a stand on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill and vote in favour of it. Because in Kerala, in a place called Munambam near Cochin, hundreds of poor families are having the threat of their land being seized by the Waqf," Chandrasekhar told ANI.
Highlighting the agitation being carried out for years against the threat of land being seized, the BJP leader urged the MPs in Kerala to fulfil their duties to assist people in trouble instead of engaging in "appeasement politics".
"This is an issue for which they have been agitating for months and years, and it is time that the MPs of Kerala do what their duty to do, which is to help people who are in trouble, help people and solve their problems rather than only play appeasement politics. Today is an important day. Congress MPs must take a position and decide. The Waqf (Amendment) Bill is not against any community. It is about aligning a law to the constitutional values of India," Chandrasekhar said.
Meanwhile, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju asserted that the proposed bill was not against any community while calling out the "propaganda" being spread around it.
"This act is not against any community - that is propaganda being spread to poison minds of some," Rijiju posted on X, adding, "I welcome the request by Kerala Catholic Bishops' Council (KCBC) to all MPs of Kerala to support the Waqf Amendment Bill as a Minister and as a minority community member."
Reacting to the support extended by the Bshop's Council, the Union Minister argued that it was the duty of those in politics to address the challenges faced by the people while highlighting the struggle of hundreds of families in Kerala's Munambam to protect their properties.
"It is the duty of those in politics to care for and address problems and challenges faced by our people. For example, hundreds of families in Munambam, Kerala, have suffered and continue to seek a solution to protect their properties and homes," Rijiju added.
Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also welcomed the support extended by the KCBC to the Waqf bill.
"A welcome step by the Kerala Catholic Bishops Council (KCBC). Their call is for amending the sections which are "unfair" and "anti-constitutional" in the existing Waqf Act," Sitharaman posted on X.
These reactions come after the KCBC urged MPs to vote in favour of amending the "unconstitutional" and "unjust" provisions of the Waqf Act.
The statement issued by Fr. Thomas Tharayil of the KCBC secretariat said that provisions in the Waqf law, which legitimise the "illegal claims" in such a way that people in Munambam are unable to exercise their revenue claims on the land, need to be amended.
"The Farooq College management, which sold the land to the residents of Munambam, has asserted that the land in question was received as a gift, the MPs should cooperate to amend the waqf bill Which has provisions to raise claims against this. KCBC will send letter to each MPs requesting to vote in favour of amending waqf bill," KCBC said in a statement.
Around 610 families of Munambam, a coastal village in the Ernakulam district, have been protesting against the claim by the Waqf Board on their land. (ANI)