New Delhi: The Hindu residents of a posh-residential colony in Uttar Pradesh’s Moradabad feel that their women will be unsafe if a Muslim family, a doctor couple, continue to live in the colony. With this argument, the Hindu residents have been holding a dharna demanding that the Muslim couple, who just moved in after purchasing a flat from a Hindu doctor, be ousted from the colony.
More than 400 families live in the said colony and reportedly, all are Hindu.
The residents, both men and women, have demanded that the flat purchased by the Muslim couple be sold back to another Hindu family as they will not allow a Muslim to live among them. They are also unhappy that the flat purchased by the Muslim couple faced the temple located in the premises of the colony.
“Dr Ashok Bajaj hay hay! Apna Makan wapas lo (Down with Dr. Ashok Bajaj! Take your house back),” read a big banner carried by the Hindu residents.
According to them, a doctor Ashok Bajaj who lives in the TDI Colony recently sold his flat to doctor couple Iqra and Yunus Chaudhary.
Arvind Agarwal, a protesting resident, said that when the colony was built it had been agreed upon that they would not allow the registry of any flat to any non-Hindu.
“There is an atmosphere of fear and insecurity among all those who live in the colony,” Agarwal told journalists.
Sonia Gupta, whose flat is next to the said house, said that Bajaj sold the flat to the Muslim family without informing the colony members.
“Today, it has happened with one. Tomorrow it will will happen with others,” Gupta told journalists.
The protestors have also offered to buy back the flat from the Muslim family.
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Resident Meera Arora said it was unacceptable that the flat, which faces a temple, was sold to a Muslim family.
“It is a question of the safety of our sisters and daughters,” said Arora.
She argued that since they followed Hindu customs in the colony they would not allow someone from another community to live there. “We have a sanatani culture in our colony,” she said.
The said Muslim couple and the Hindu doctor who sold them the flat have not commented on the matter yet.
The district administration of Moradabad has taken cognisance of the matter.
District Magistrate Anuj Singh said the administration was in constant touch with all the sides in the matter.
“We are working to find a solution after mutual agreement of all sides, so that there are no incidents that spoil the atmosphere,” Singh said.
