During the discussion on the Waqf Amendment Bill, 2025 yesterday (3rd April) in the Rajya Sabha, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju highlighted several instances where waqf boards across the country made bizarre claims over entire villages. He pointed out one such case from Tamil Nadu where the Waqf Board claimed the entire Hindu-majority village of Thiruchenthurai/Thiruchendurai, including a 1500-year-old temple, near Trichy.
The statement of the head of the Waqf Board
An online media portal, The Federal, said that Rijiju’s statement about the waqf board claiming the Thiruchenthurai village was wrong and conducted a ‘fact-check’ to prove it. However, the purported fact-check had several loopholes. The portal quoted Abdul Rehman, head of the Tamil Nadu Waqf Board, who refuted Rijiju’s claims. Rehman said that the entire village measured up to 800-900 acres, while the waqf property covers about 480 acres. He claimed that the 1500-year-old temple is on the Waqf land, which was donated to it. He said that the donors wanted the temple to remain there.
The Federal further quoted Rehman as saying that the Union Law Minister was lying because the Waqf Board never claimed the entire village. He pointed out that the Waqf Board owns a significant amount of land in the nearby village of Suriyar, which also includes a 1000-year-old temple surrounded by nine ponds.
The shady fact-check
Proceeding with its fact-check, the media portal then presented some historical details about the village land and the waqf board. Quoting historical records, the Federal claimed that land donations to the waqf board were made by Queen Rani Mangammal in the 18th century. “According to historical records, Queen Rani Mangammal had gifted several villages, including Thiruchendurai, to the Waqf Board – a fact documented in a 1954 gazette and confirmed by an ancient copper plate referring to the village as Inam Gramam,” the media portal claimed.
Now, this statement of the Federal, which claims that the Queen gifted “several villages including Thiruchendura village”, contradicts the earlier quoted statement of Abdul Rehman in which he said that the waqf board did not claim the entire village but only a part of it, which also includes the ancient Hindu temple.
What was the case?
The incident of the Tamil Nadu Waqf Board claiming the entire Hindu-majority village of Thiruchendurai in Tamil Nadu came to light in 2022 when a villager named Rajagopal attempted to sell his 1 acre 2 cents of land to one Rajarajeshwari. When Rajagopal, a resident of the nearby village of Mullikarupur village arrived at the Registrar’s office to get the sale of his land registered, he was surprised to learn that the land did not belong to him and instead belonged to the Waqf Board.
“The Waqf Board owns the land on which you have come to register the deed. This contract cannot be registered, according to the Waqf Board’s directive,” Murali, the registrar, stated. “You should obtain a no-obligation certificate from the Waqf Board in Chennai,” he further added. “Why do I need to obtain a no-obligation certificate from the Waqf Board to sell my land which I purchased in 1992?” Rajagopal inquired in astonishment. Rajagoapl said that he was shown a 250-page letter from the Tamil Nadu Waqf Board, which said that in Tiruchenthurai village requires a no-objection certificate from the Waqf Board in Chennai. “The Waqf Board has informed the Deeds Department by letter and documentation that the entire village is theirs. It has also been stated that individuals who come to register a deed for land in the village should obtain a certificate of no objection from them,” he said.
The entire village was shocked to learn that their lands belonged to the Waqf Bard. They wondered how the Waqf Board could claim ownership of the entire village when the villagers have all the necessary land documents for their respective lands, both residential and agricultural. The subject was brought to the District Collector’s attention by the villagers, he stated that the matter will be investigated, and action will be taken after that.
