25-yr old Misbah Quadri, a victim and witness to the Gujarat riots, moved to Mumbai with hopes of better lifestyle and treatment, only to see herself today knocking on the doors of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) after she was denied a flat in the city just because of her religion.
After a hard search, the Communications Executive had managed in finding out a tidy 3-BHK apartment at Sanghvi Heights in Wadala. Her new flatmates — two working women, in their early twenties and Hindu — befriended her on the popular networking site Facebook. However, a day before Ms. Quadri was to shift, the apartment’s broker warned that the housing society did not accept ‘Muslim tenants’. Even if something worked out, the broker stated that she would have to sign a “no-objection certificate” (NOC) declaring that if she faced any harassment from her neighbours because of her religion, the builder, the owner and the broker “would not be legally responsible.” She was also asked to submit her resume.
Though she disagreed with the terms, she moved in because the notice period at her previous flat had expired and her flatmates supported her and she hoped for a suitable compromise later. However within a week, the agent contacted her again. “He threatened to call the cops and throw me out of the flat. It got very ugly.” When she approached the representative of the builder, she was told that it was “a policy” of the company not to have Muslim tenants.
She was then served an ‘ultimatum to vacate the house.’ Ultimately, she was forced to leave the flat. Incidentally, the other women had to pay a price for sheltering a Muslim; and now, even they have vacated the house unwillingly.
(Cover Image: ANI)
Tags: Gujarat riot Misbah Quadri Mumbai
