Discrimination against Muslims continues in India
New Delhi: In the Indian state of Gujarat, a case of discrimination against Muslims on the basis of religion has once again come to light and in the state’s Vadodara region,
According to Kashmir Media Service, Hindu extremists are protesting against a Muslim woman for giving a house in a housing complex under the Chief Minister’s Housing Scheme.
An Indian Express report said in the year 2017, a Muslim woman was allotted a house in Motnath Residency Cooperative Housing Services Society Limited of Vadodara Municipal Corporation under the “Mukhya Mantri Awas Yojana”. Thirty three out of 462 houses in the housing complex filed a written complaint with the District Collector and other officials against the Muslim woman working in a branch of the Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Skill Development, objecting to the Muslim living there.
A 44-year-old Muslim woman living with a minor son says that the first protest took place in 2020. After that, the people of the housing complex wrote a letter to the Chief Minister’s office demanding cancellation of their house allotment. However, the police station closed the case after recording the statements of all parties concerned. Now, the latest protest on the matter took place on June 10. Officials say she is the only Muslim allottee in the complex.
The Muslim woman currently lives with her parents and son in another locality in Vadodara. She said she tried repeatedly to meet the management committee of the colony but they did not respond. Such discrimination is not new in Gujarat. In 2019, a residential colony in Gujarat’s Narmada district advised its residents not to sell property to Dalits and Muslims.
An Indian media report said in 2014, the then leader of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Parvin Togadia, in the Gujarat area in a speech in Bhavnagar suggested spitting and throwing tomatoes at Muslims.
The incident took place after a complaint was made about a Muslim man who had bought property in a Hindu area. Parvin Togadia in his speech, said that this is a long-standing conspiracy practiced by Muslims in cities and villages across India. How can we stop it? There are two ways. One is to apply the Disturbed Areas Act everywhere and the other is to barge into the house with the advice of a lawyer, forcibly occupy it and give the Bajrang Dil Kabord leg. We can handle the matter later.
According to a report, the Disturbed Areas Act was first enacted in 1986. After the issuance of this notification, any transfer of property in the concerned area can take place only after obtaining the permission of the District Collector on application made by the buyer and seller of the property. Currently, this law is applicable in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Himmatnagar, Godhra, Kapadwanj and Bharuch districts of Gujarat.
