Motnath Residency Cooperative House Society members in Gujarat demonstrate against a Muslim woman’s house allocation and demand that it be revoked.

In Gujarat, the Motnath Residency Cooperative House Society Limited’s members are staging protests and attempting to have the house allocation given to a Muslim woman declared invalid. Residents of the housing complex believe that the woman, a government employee, is the victim of prejudice because of her Hindu heritage.

This is what transpired.

A 44-year-old Muslim woman working for the Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Skill Development was given a home in the city’s Harni neighborhood in 2017 as part of the Mukhyamantri Awas Yojana, which is a low-income housing complex managed by Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC). This information was reported by Indian Express.

According to the article, 33 residents wrote to the District Collector and other officials before the mother and her young boy could move in, asking that her assigned dwelling unit in the 462-unit complex be revoked and that she be moved to another housing scheme.

“The VMC has allotted the house number K204 to one minority beneficiary in March 2019,” they demanded in the memo. We think that the Harni region is a tranquil, Hindu-dominated area with no Muslim habitation within four kilometers of the center. It’s like to putting 461 families’ tranquil lives on fire.

According to the woman, The Indian Express, the locals also wrote to the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) in 2020, requesting that her allotment be revoked. According to the article, on June 10, the latest demonstration got underway. 

The woman, who presently resides with her parents in a different part of the city, shared her experience with Indian Express, saying, “My family never believed in the concept of ghettos. I grew up in a mixed neighbourhood in Vadodara.” My son should grow up in an inclusive neighborhood, since that has always been my ambition. However, after nearly six years, the resistance I am experiencing has no end in sight, shattering my hopes. Now that he is in Class 12, my kid is old enough to comprehend what is happening. He would be psychologically impacted by the prejudice,” she said.

She continued, saying, “I don’t want to give up my hard-earned property because of this resistance. I’ll hold off.

The woman further disclosed to TIE that she had lately received a call regarding unpaid maintenance fees, which she had consented to pay in exchange for the provision of her share certificate. She further mentioned that she had already given the VMC a one-time maintenance payment of ₹50,000. 

One homeowner stood up for the woman in the face of resistance from many others, arguing that it was wrong to invalidate her allotment because she was a government plan beneficiary and had been duly allotted the unit. The homeowner remarked, “The residents’ complaints may have merit, but we are passing judgment on them before we have ever had a chance to speak with them.