A total of 33 residents from the 462-unit complex filed a written complaint with the District Collector and other authorities, objecting to the woman moving in with her son. She is the only Muslim allottee in the complex, citing officials.
Gujarat: Recently, The Gujarat High Court declined to take suo motu cognizance regarding protests by residents in a low-income group (LIG) housing complex in Vadodara against the allotment of a flat to a Muslim woman. The High Court stated that it is “not a public interest matter” and suggested that the allottee could file her own petition.
Residents of a housing complex in Vadodara objected to a Muslim woman moving into a unit, citing potential “threat and nuisance” due to her presence.
This issue involves a 44-year-old Muslim woman, employed by the Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Skill Development, who was allotted a unit in the Vadodara Municipal Corporation’s (VMC) low-income housing complex at Harni under the Mukhyamantri Awas Yojana in 2017.
A total of 33 residents from the 462-unit complex filed a written complaint with the District Collector and other authorities, objecting to the woman moving in with her son. She is the only Muslim allottee in the complex, citing officials.
The protests against her began in 2020 when residents petitioned the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) to invalidate her house allotment. The Harni police station recorded statements from all parties and closed the complaint at that time. The latest protest occurred on June 10.
The woman said,
“I have grown up in a mixed neighborhood in Vadodara, and my family never believed in the concept of ghettos… I always wanted my son to grow up in an inclusive neighborhood, 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….”
In what they termed a “representation in public interest,” 33 residents submitted a complaint to the District Collector, Mayor, VMC Commissioner, and Commissioner of Police in Vadodara, demanding that the woman be “shifted to another housing scheme.”
The memorandum by the Motnath Residency Cooperative Housing Services Society Limited stated,
“The VMC allotted house number K204 to one minority beneficiary in March 2019… We believe that the Harni area is a Hindu-dominated peaceful area with no Muslim settlements within a four-kilometer radius… It is like setting fire to the peaceful life of 461 families,” according to media reports. Residents cited an “imminent law-and-order crisis” if Muslim families are allowed to move in.
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