House-hunting in this part of the world can be a complicated business. And certain communities and individuals from those communities have often had greater barriers to cross when it comes to finding a place to just live.
Protest Against Muslim Woman
In what can be deemed a continuation of that phenomenon, a Muslim woman's attempt to find a house in Gujarat's Vadodara has been met with a roadblock from local residents.
According to an Indian Express report, the 44-year-old woman in question was allotted this flat in Gujarat city under the Gujarat state's Mukhyamantri Awas Yojana in 2017. She is also employed by the Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Skill Development.
And, it was through this department that she was allotted the flat in the city's Harni area, under the Vadodra Municipal Corporation.
The protest, in this matter, first began in 2020, and it came to pass, even before the woman could usher into her new abode. The complex has 462 housing units. And, amongst them, 33 residents protested against her moving to the society.
According to one of the protesters who had gathered and who spoke to local media outlet TNN News, the rental agreement of the woman was cancelled with the involvement of the municipal corporation commissioner himself, who, according to one of the protestors, 'assured then of action'.
'It is a Hindu Society'
According to the protestor, the woman, after her agreement was cancelled, returned to the dwelling to 'clean' the house. The protesting residents were alerted to the fact, and they appeared to protest against the 44-year-old.
Some of the protestors, in their open expression of problematic views, underscored the fact that society is largely Hindu or that it is a Hindu society and has 462 units.
One of the protestors even deemed other tenants a 'nuisance and threat'. They even called the woman 'Vidharmi' which loosely translates to heretics.
The state of Gujarat has had a complicated relationship with the accommodation and housing of minorities, especially Muslims.
Post the apocalyptic 2002 riots, the community has allegedly been ghettoised, when troubled zones in parts of states, legally proscribing the community from owning property. Such incidents don't make things easier for the community