The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) and the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) are hunting with the hounds and running with the hares in the Waqf Board issue, according to Kerala's seven time legislator P C George. Deepika, the Catholic Church's mouthpiece too blasted the Congress and the CPI(M) for condemning the Waqf Board Bill 2024.

Speaking to The Pioneer, George, a top BJP leader in the State, said that while the UDF and the LDF paid lip service to the 600 families of Cherai-Munampam coastal village who face eviction from the land where they have been staying for generations, both the fronts have shied away from asking the Waqf Board to withdraw their claim over the disputed land.

"This is not a disputed land and it belongs to the fishermen community who bought it from the previous owner. The CPI (M) and the Congress led fronts got a resolution passed in the legislative assembly condemning the Waqf Board (Amendment) Bill 2024 and both these political parties oppose the topic being discussed by the Joint Parliamentary Committee," said George, who was the chiefwhip of the UDF during the tenure of the Oommen Chandi Government.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has convened a meeting on November 16 to discuss the issues born out of the Waqf Board demand that the entire coastal village is Waqf property and there was no question of it taking a step backward. Even V Abdurehiman, minister for Waqf has stated that the land belonged to the Waqf Board.

"This is part of political Islam and there are no other words to describe the double standard of the Marxists and the Congress," said George who is touring the coastal belt of Ernakulam interacting with the victims facing the eviction.

Interestingly, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has asked his revenue officials to withdraw all changes made in the title deeds of land owned by Vijayapura farmers and transfer the same to Waqf Board. "But this is a ploy by the Congress government as the State is all set to go for by-poll on November 13 in the assembly constituencies of Shiggaon, sandur and Channapattana. Once the by-poll is over it would be back to square one", said BJP leader Chandra Kant.

In a major development, Deepika, the mouthpiece of Catholic community in its editorial on Tuesday lambasted the Congress Government that ruled the Centre and the CPI(M) for their  "unreasonable and unjustifiable" stands that empowered the Waqf Board to claim rights on properties which were not owned by them. "Until the Waqf Board (Amendment) Bill 2024 is legislated, people in other communities would not be able to sleep peacefully," said the editorial which extended its full support to the Government move to amend the Waqf Law.