Kochi, April 4 -- Hours after the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, was passed in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, the Catholic Church and other Christian organisations in Kerala welcomed the development and expressed hope that the legislation would help the residents of Munambam regain their ownership rights. Meanwhile, some Muslim organisations and parties like the Congress and CPI(M) slammed the bill's passage stating that it had no connection to the dispute in the coastal village.

In Munambam, a coastal hamlet in Ernakulam district, nearly 600 families, who are mostly Christian fisherfolk, have been agitating for return of their ownership rights which have remained in limbo since 2022 when the Kerala State Waqf Board claimed ownership of the la...