Kerala families shocked by Waqf Board land notices

Tushara is one of the five families that received notices from the Kerala Waqf Board, claiming that the land parcels they owned belonged to the board. Tushara stated that the Waqf Board could take over her land only over her dead body.

- BELLIE THOMAS

It was a bolt out of the blue for Tushara Ajith Kumar, a homemaker from Wayanad when she learned that a notice had arrived at her house from the Kerala Waqf Board.

Tushara's husband, Ajith Kumar, son of Havaldar Kunjuraman, was equally shocked by the notice and initially hesitant to disclose it to his wife, unsure of how to handle the situation.

Tushara is one of five families that received notices from the Kerala Waqf Board, claiming that the land parcels they owned belonged to the board.

Holding a copy of the notice in her hand, Tushara firmly stated that the Waqf Board could take over her land only over her dead body.

An emotionally overwhelmed Tushara revealed that her fatherin-law had owned 75 cents of land in the Talapuzha village. He had meticulously maintained all the requisite land documents dating back to 1949 and continuing through the late 1960s after purchasing the land from a Christian family. In recent years, he distributed the land among his six children, including Tushara's husband, Ajith Kumar.