MEERUT: After ‘Love jihad’, a new term ‘Land jihad’ has been doing the rounds in Meerut.
The incident happened on Sunday in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut district when members of right-wing groups objected to the sale of a house to a Muslim family contending those Hindu-dominated neighbourhoods are gradually getting converted into Muslim ones, by way of purchasing properties.
According to media reports, jeweller Sanjay Rastogi, the previous owner had sold his house in a Hindu-dominated area to a Muslim man called Nauman Ahmad for Rs 28.30 lakhs.
When Nauman and family reached the new home to take possession of it, members of the BJYM objected and started sloganeering.
“In the past few months, Muslims have managed to buy three houses in the neighbouring lanes and we Hindus could not do anything about it,” said a saffron clad, self-described social worker named Sushil Goswami.
“This time we did not let that happen. This part of the lane, right outside the disputed property, is Holika Chowk. This is where the entire colony gathers to celebrate Holi, cook meals during the festival and hire a DJ to play music all day. A Muslim man will surely object to all that and that can lead to communal tensions,” reported Scroll.in.
Deepak Sharma, general secretary of the youth wing of ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, claim that while Hindus are “continuously selling properties… Muslims are buying them”.
“Their culture, thoughts and way of life are different from ours. It starts with one house and slowly, the whole area will become Muslim-dominated. We cannot allow this to happen,” says Sharma, reported Indian Express.
“The Muslim population is gradually gaining strength while Hindu population is retreating back, so whenever a Muslim buys a house, a sense of insecurity is felt in the neighbourhood that leads to public outcry. There was a similar case here and several Hindus were present.
He added that a solution has been agreed upon after police intervention, that Rastogi was convinced not to allow anyone from the minority community to buy the house and assured him of arranging a Hindu buyer to get back the property.
Meanwhile, Imran, a relative of the Muslim owner said that many Muslim families have been living for a long time in the area, and both communities have been living peacefully.
“There is no such Hindu-Muslim issue, all of us have been staying in brotherhood here. My house is around 100 years old and that house is nearby. Yes, two-three neighbours protested this sale, and attempted to make it a communal issue but rest of our Hindu brothers quieted them down. It was a minor issue,” he said, adding that both the seller and the person who facilitated the sale were also Hindus.
Speaking to ANI, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Maan Singh Chouhan concurred that the issue was a minor one, and that it was resolved.
“The issue was not a big one and was resolved after talking to both the parties,” Chouhan said.
ANI inputs