NCM receives complaint over bias against Muslims in Bhavnagar colonies

Referring to a report in The Indian Express (issue dated April 23, 2014) about a posh locality in Bhavnagar being predominantly Hindu, Poonawalla noted that only three of the 150-odd bungalows belonged to Muslims. The fourth belonging to a Bohra Muslim was purchased earlier this year but the owner, Ali Asghar Zaveri, has not been able to move in due to protests.

“VHP leader Pravin Togadia visited the area. He reportedly warned Zaveri to vacate the premises within 48 hours and asked residents to forcibly occupy the bungalow. An FIR has been filed against him,” he quoted from the report.

Asserting that the Sangh Parivar and VHP, which share a common ideology with BJP, were promoting apartheid, Poonawalla said Togadia had driven out a Muslim family from their house.

“In videos, Togadia tells the gathering that they should give the family an ultimatum of 48 hours, and if the house isn’t vacated, storm it with ‘stones, tyres and tomatoes’ and put up a Bajrang Dal board on the house. This case is not the only instance. In case of Nida Yamin, the research associate at IIM-Ahmedabad was denied housing in Vastrapur of Ahmedabad. Professor Javed Malik of IIT-Kanpur was unable to find a house in an area other than ‘Muslim-populated’ and this kept him from joining IIT-Gandhinagar. The report appeared in national papers. There have also been reports of how Muslims need to adopt Hindu-sounding names to find accommodation in Gujarat,” Poonawalla said.

The activist referred to independent studies including “Relative Development of Gujarat and Socio-Religious Differentials, 2011” that show how the Muslim community fared in terms of poverty, health, education and security. Poonawalla asked the Gujarat government why it failed to check such “blatant discrimination”.