A Muslim woman working with an arm of the Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Skill Development was allotted a house in the Vadodara Municipal Corporation’s (VMC) low-income group housing complex at Harni under the Mukhyamantri Awas Yojana in 2017, leading to massive uproar by fellow residents of the neighbourhood, reports The Indian Express.
The latest protest against it was reignited on June 10.
A memorandum by the Motnath Residency Cooperative Housing Services Society Limited said that if she gets the house in the society, it will be like “setting fire to the peaceful life of 461 families”.
When she was allotted the house in 2017, 33 residents of the housing complex, which comprises 462 units, wrote to the District Collector and other authorities, objecting to a ‘Muslim’ moving in, citing possible “threat and nuisance” due to her presence. According to the officials, she is the only Muslim allottee in the housing complex.
The 44-year-old Muslim woman lives with her parents and son in another area of Vadodara.
Speaking to The Indian Express, she said, “I have grown up in a mixed neighbourhood in Vadodara and my family never believed in the concept of ghettos… I always wanted my son to grow up in an inclusive neighbourhood but my dreams have been shattered as it has been almost six years and there is no solution to the opposition I am facing.”
She added that the discrimination is going to affect them mentally.
The memorandum said, “The VMC has allotted the house number K204 to one minority beneficiary in March 2019… We believe that Harni area is a Hindu-dominated peaceful area and there is no settlement of Muslims in the periphery of about four kilometres… It is like setting fire to the peaceful life of 461 families…”
A resident of the housing complex, who didn’t wish to be identified, said that they are not comfortable with a person from the minority community being their neighbour.
“It is not just about the eating preferences but the milieu…,” the resident said.
Meanwhile, residents of the VMC’s housing department told IE that the housing draw was undertaken as per norms since government schemes didn’t segregate applicants and beneficiaries on the basis of religion.
