SOCIETY
The trend in the 'city of opportunity' has certainly changed after the riots and the bomb blasts. Till then it did not matter whom one prayed to, only the bank balance counted. Communal riots did take place, but money and the compulsion to conduct business healed the wounds. And Bombay roared again. But the wounds of the 1992 riots and bomb blasts do not seem to have healed. Builders and real estate agents too agree that Muslims are no longer finding it easy to buy a flat. Even with more than a crore to spare. "If Muslims with budgets running into crores of rupees cannot find a house, what about middle class people like us with a budget of less than Rs. 10 lakh, wonders Arif, who works for a multinational company.
The discrimination is more pronounced in places like Vile Parle, Sant Cruz and some areas of Bandra. Muslims are not exactly welcome even in some buildings which exist in the heart of Muslim-dominated places like Jogeshwari (West). 'Biased' buildings exist in upmarket South Bombay where a flat could cost more than Rs. 1 crore. Says an estate agent: "I have dealt with rigid clients who refuse to sell to a Muslim even if he is ready to pay more than the price demanded. They don't mind getting Rs. 5 lakh less."
Often, building societies apply pressure on broad- minded people who are tempted by the juicy offers from wealthy Muslims. But as a broker puts it, not many would consider offers as it could spoil their name and that of the building. A Muslim builder explained the reason - a feeling had gained ground that Muslims don't make good neighbors and that they did not keep the premises clean. He has just completed a posh complex in Bombay and has no plans of considering the applications from members of his own community.
Most builders claim that business compulsions have forced them to become discriminating. They did not make bones about the fact that they conducted a thorough screening, which included interviews, to check the antecedents of each and every potential buyer. With the stakes so high and the real estate prices touching the sky, the builders are afraid that a single 'wrong' occupant I could spoil the drive to the bank.
Buying a house in an unwelcome building could also be a very risky move. Khan and his young wife have their bags ready to move out of their flat in Lokhandwala complex after alleged threats from the Shiv Sainiks. "The broker called me and said that the Shiv Sainiks had ordered the secretary to serve eviction notice on all the Muslim occupants residing at the house. His Muslim friends who had flats in the same colony were also being ordered to vacate. They have all decided to sell their flats and shift to a safer place.
He suspects that the society wants them evicted to sell the flats vacated by them at a much higher price. But some real estate agents think that such threats and the discrimination angle have been played up. "There are only very few buildings which have these rules and religion does not come in the way. This may be happening in some buildings but is not a general trend. Muslims too are wary of renting out spaces to members of the other community," says one.
According to a builder non-Muslims would not even think of buying a house in a Muslim-dominated building. However, he claims that 'discrimination' had existed long before the riots. Bombay has had buildings reserved for Catholics, Parsis, Gujaratis and Muslims. And no one had made any fuss about these buildings. The popularity and number of such touch-me-not buildings have certainly increased thanks to the riots. "After the riots, everybody wants to say in buildings where they are in a majority," says the agent. But it is a new majority that more and more builders are taking a fancy to: vegetarians. "Vegetarian buildings seem to be the trend. They are sold only to vegetarians, the community does not matter," gushes a promoter. But the problem is, there are few vegetarians among the Muslims.
(Source: The Week, 3) July, 1995)
Sale of Daughter by Muslim Widow Report in the Week, 18 June, 1995
The day Laloo Prasad Yadav was sworn in C.M. of Bihar for a second term, Zulekha Khatoon sold her eldest daughter and grandson for Rs.700. People of Bakhari village in Muzaffarpur district, are aghast at the 'deal' but the 45-year-old widow, with tears welling up in her eyes, justifies her act. "We had not eaten for a week. I did not want my family to die of starvation. My husband had died last year for want of proper medical attention and a few days later my second daughter succumbed to an illness," she says.
"It was told about Manjeet Mishra who was looking for a bride. I was told that he was prepared to give me Rs. 300. I agreed because it was a big amount," she says. However, the bridegroom did not care much for his fiancée’s six-month-old baby and this problem too was sorted out when Abdul Karim, a meat seller, came forward with a proposal to buy the child for Rs.400.
Manjeet Mishra has about five acres of land and belongs to the Bhumihar caste. He decided to make Zulekha's daughter Shahidan Khatoon his wife because, at 45, he could not get a girl from his caste.
Shahidan says that the man to whom her mother sold her is an insaan. But the villagers are angry with him. Says Mishra: "They have been harassing me and my wife after I took her to my house. Some fanatic Muslim youths threatened Zulekha with dire consequences if she did not take back her daughter. The Hindus, who are a minority in the village, are happy that Manjeet Mishra got his new wife converted to Hinduism and has rechristened her Usha Devi. "Mishra bhaiya has added one more person to our community and he should be congratulated for that," says a villager.
Zulekha is furious at those of her community who criticize her. "Where were these people when my family was starving? Where had these leaders gone when I badly needed money for the treatment of my second daughter?" she asks "Shahidan had been married to a Muslim of Ratwara village, but she deserted him because he used to torture her," she explains, The money from the sale lasted her for about a month and a half. She wonders if poverty will force her to sell her youngest daughter as Well.
