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A Muslim family was not allowed to move into their house in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, which they had recently bought, as Hindus living in the neighbourhood opposed them moving in. Local right-wing groups like the Bajrang Dal and the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha accused them of committing ‘land jihad,’ thereby capitalising on the issue for their own benefit.
Senior Superintendent of Police Manzil Saini promised to protect the Muslim family, if they decide to move in – but are the conditions in Meerut’s Maliwada too hostile for Usman Ahmad and his family to move into their own house?
We travelled to ground zero to find out.
Nauman Ahmad works as a software engineer in Delhi, but is originally from Meerut. His family lives in Maliwada in Meerut, where they have been living for the last 30 years. He grew up here in a single room accommodation provided by the government-aided Ismail Public School along with his brother, Usman, and three sisters. Nauman’s father works at the school.
His family bought a house in Maliwada, about a kilometre from their old house. They bought the house from Sanjay Rastogi, who runs a telecom business, for Rs 28.30 lakh, of which they took a bank loan of Rs 18 lakh.
When Nauman’s family went with Rastogi to take possession of the property – house number 308 – on 17 December this year, they were taken aback by what was to happen.
The first thing to figure out was whether Maliwada was ‘Hindu dominated’ or not. After all, that presumption led to the controversy. We passed by Jama Masjid, Angoor Wali Masjid, Shiv Durga temple, Rastogi Gali temple, and Gauri Shankar temple – all within 500 metres of each other.
The school where Usman’s father works was also in the vicinity. We passed by a Hindu-owned home right across a mosque. At first glance, Maliwada didn’t seem like it was a Hindu-dominated area.
We spoke to Pradeep Sharma, who’s lived here since childhood, about Muslim families buying houses from Hindus. Pointing to another lane where a Muslim family bought a house from a Hindu man six months ago, Sharma said, “The neighbours did not object to that family moving in. But it is happening here (referring to the area he was in), and there must be a reason for it.”
Amar Goswami has been running a shop in the area since a long time. He said Muslims and Hindus have shared walls for generations.
In fact, property deals between Hindus and Muslims are commonplace in Maliwada. Imran Ahmad is one such person who bought property in front of his tailor shop six months ago from a Hindu.
Imran’s property is located no more than half kilometre from Usman’s new house.
Usman said that his family too has been living peacefully in the area for many years now. He said he is willing to give up the house if he gets his money back.
“I had no idea that this deal will attract so much attention,” he added.
The Ahmad family met Sanjay Rastogi a couple of months ago, and were assured that there will be no problem. Sushil Goswami, Usman’s neighbour in the new house, brokered the deal between Rastogi and the Ahmad family.
However, because of the controversy that erupted, Goswami denied having played any role in the property deal. He indicated that he did not want his name dragged in the controversy and damage his equations with the angry Hindu neighbours.
When we first met Goswami, he insisted that he had no problem with a Muslim family moving into a house across his home. But a while later, his biases emerged – he said that it may cause inconvenience because the area in front of his house is where Holi fire is lit.
We met Hindus living on the same street as that of Usman’s new house. All of them seemed unhappy about a Muslim family buying a house so close to theirs.
Many Muslim families have been living in the area for generations. The Hindu neighbours unanimously agreed that they do no want Muslim neighbours because of cultural differences and varied food habits.
A few Hindu neighbours claimed Sanjay Rastogi was trapped under a huge debt, and he deliberately sold it to a Muslim family.
Rastogi, who could not be contacted, allegedly owes money to many in the locality. It is not clear how much he owes and why he had borrowed the money, if he did.
“Sanjay Rastogi did not inform anybody about the sale. He kept telling everybody that he is planning to take a loan. Why would anybody object it?” Sadhana, another resident of Maliwada, said.
Sushil Goswami said most neighbours are objecting only because Rastogi owes them money. They don’t have any other reason to oppose the deal.
We got in touch with a local journalist to help connect with the locals. That he was Muslim was incidental. He took us to Bachha Park crossroads, which was five kilometres from Maliwada, to meet Balraj Dungar, convener of Bajrang Dal, West Uttar Pradesh chapter.
When we reached the spot to meet Dungar, who came across as a staunch Hindu on camera. He made an issue out of a simple transfer of ownership of property and termed it ‘land jihad’ – the term inspired from ‘love jihad.’ He spoke about how Muslims are “conspiring” against Hindus to occupy their area.
Ironically, Dungar greeted the Muslim journalist who accompanied us with a hug. He prepared his gang of seven men – clad in saffron scarves around their neck – and made them stand behind him while he spoke in front of the camera.
Balraj Dungar said the term ‘land jihad’ is not new, and has been prevalent for a long time now. He said that Muslims buy houses in Hindu locality as a part of a larger conspiracy.
Dungar claimed that the Bajrang Dal interfered in the matter because Hindus needed their “help.” Muslims buying Hindu properties is part of a larger conspiracy, a planned approach by several Muslims to take over Hindu property; this is ‘land jihad’ and it leads to love and terrorism jihad, he alleged.
When asked if he met the family in question, based of which he concluded that this was a case of ‘love jihad,’ he dodged the question saying he didn’t need to do so.
Dungar does not want the same to happen in Maliwada.
The people of the locality said that they will try hard to get a Hindu to buy the house from Usman’s family. But it isn’t that easy.
“Several such incidents (of Hindutva groups and locals intervening in cases of property sold to Muslims) have happened in the past few years, and in most of them, the seller has not been able to get a Hindu buyer to agree to pay a decent price. The people who promise to help sellers get Hindu buyers are the first to disappear,” Naseem Saifi, a Meerut-based builder, told Scroll.in.
The Hindu neighbours were vocal about being uncomfortable with Muslim neighbours, and right-wing groups like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal are capitalising over this for their own benefit. None of the Hindu neighbours called it a case of ‘land jihad.’
Senior Superintendent of Police Manzil Saini said that the matter had reached Kotwali police station on 17 December when Hindu neighbours opposed Rastogi-Nauman deal, but it has been internally solved.
The house has been locked since then, and Usman’s family has not moved in. “We do not want to move to a neighbourhood which does not welcome us,” said Usman. They also agreed to give up the house, provided they get their money back.
Usman's family has been promised that they will get the money back by 17 February 2018. Either the previous owner Rastogi will have to return the amount or the neighbours will have to find Hindus to buy the house at the same price.
From how it stands today, it doesn’t seem the police can do much, and have kept a distance from the controversy.
But, are the Ahmads happy about giving up their house?
Usman’s family continue to live in the very same one-room accommodation they were always living in – with an added burden of paying bank EMIs. And for what it’s worth, they may never move to the new house for fear of hostile neighbours.
Camera: Vivek Das
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Published: 28 Dec 2017,12:18 AM IST