A horrific instance of discrimination has come to light from Gujarat's Vadodara where residents of a housing society have asked a woman to be relocated to some other location, reportedly due to her faith. According to reports, 33 residents of Harni's Motnath Residency Cooperative Housing Society Limited wrote to the District Collector and other authorities against the allocation of a house to a Muslim woman, who is a state government employee, and her minor son.
The complainants reportedly mentioned in the letter that their housing society is "Hindu-dominated" and thus they want the decision to allow the woman a place in the society "invalidated." Shockingly, in the letter they shot to the authorities, the members of the society went to the extent of saying, "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…,” news reports said.
The woman, who is at the receiving end of the discriminatory plea, is an employee at the Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Skill Development. She was allotted a house in the Harni district under Vadodara Municipal Corporation's (VMC) low-income housing complex as part of the Mukhyamantri Awas Yojana in 2017, The Mint said in a report.
The residents started protesting against the said allocation on June 10, Indian Express said in a report. She is currently living with her parents in another area of Vadodara. They had written a similar letter to the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) in 2020 as well, the report said.
The woman, who has already paid a one-time maintenance charge of Rs 50,000 to the VMC, is willing to wait despite the ordeal.
"... my dreams have been shattered as it has been almost six years and there is no solution to the opposition I am facing. My son is now in Class 12 and old enough to understand what is going on. The discrimination will affect him mentally.” the woman was quoted as saying by Indian Express.
