"It's Like Setting Fire...": Vadodara Residents Protest As Muslim Woman Allotted Flat Under CM Scheme

Residents of a housing society in Gujarat’s Vadodara have been protesting since June 10 against the housing allotment given to a Muslim woman, demanding its invalidation. The woman, a government employee, faces discrimination as residents argue that the housing complex is predominantly Hindu.

According to a report by the Indian Express, in 2017, a 44-year-old Muslim woman employed with the Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Skill Development was allocated a house in the Motnath Residency Cooperative Housing Society Limited in Harni district, part of Vadodara Municipal Corporation’s low-income housing complex under the Mukhyamantri Awas Yojana.

However, before the woman and her son could move in, 33 residents wrote to the District Collector and other authorities, urging the cancellation of her allocated dwelling unit (K204) within the 462-unit complex.

They proposed relocating her to another housing scheme, stating, “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 kilometers. It is like setting fire to the peaceful life of 461 families…”

The woman said that these residents also appealed to the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) to invalidate her allotment.

Speaking to the Indian Express, the woman, who currently stays with her parents in another part of the city, shared her experience, saying, “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. My son is now in Class 12 and old enough to understand what is going on. The discrimination will affect him mentally.”

She continued, “I don’t want to sell my hard-earned property just because of this opposition. I will wait.”

The woman said that recently she was contacted regarding maintenance dues, which she agreed to pay upon receipt of her share certificate. She added that she had already paid a one-time maintenance charge of Rs 50,000 to the VMC.