Hindus in Bharuch decide to leave homes over demography change

“Every Thursday, there would be an evening Aarti at the Jalaram Bapa Temple. Then one Shaukat Ali purchased a house right across the temple. He would object to the Aarti. He eventually got 28 houses in the society and now the Aarti at the temple has stopped. Not just that, the temple has now also been put up for sale,” says a source close to the developments in Bharuch on condition of anonymity.

He says that in 2019, Disturbed Areas Act was implemented in parts of Bharuch but people including administration has been exploiting loopholes which has led to demography change in certain areas. “Only Hindus lived in Soni Faliyo and Hathikhana areas in Bharuch at one point. Now there are hardly 20-25 Hindu families living there. They have decided to sell off their homes and leave,” he added.

“I’ll give you an example. You and I are both living in same residential society. You live in house no 11 and I in house no 12. Logic dictates that all houses in same residential society would fall under the Disturbed Areas Act if the area falls under it. But then these bureaucrats and others have found out loopholes. They claim that one house falls under one TP scheme and other in another and hence one house falls under Disturbed Areas Act while other does not. Everyone is turning a blind eye to this demography change,” he said.

The video shot by local media channel GujaratWatch shows how Hindus have put up signs of homes and temples up for sale. “The residents of this chawl are Hindus but it is now up for sale,” says one of the banner.

The sources in the know of the matter, however, say that when the residents protested against such taking over of property by exploiting loopholes, police and administration instead threatened to file case against them accusing them of disturbing peace. “The government was elected to protect interest of Hindus, which is why they also brought in laws like anti-forced conversion laws, disturbed areas act, but such loopholes are being exploited and administration is not doing anything,” he said.

In a letter written to the administration, residents of Soni Faliya alleging illegal transfer of property to fanatics, said that the demography of the area is changing and it has turned into a area dominated by fanatics. “If this happens, they could slaughter animals in public places which could be disturbing for Hindus, especially women and children, who are predominantly vegetarian. Similarly it may also cause hindrance to celebration of Hindu festivals. They have already stopped playing of religious songs at Jalaram Bapa temple and Shiva temple in the locality,” the residents say in a note to the Chief Minister of Gujarat written on 2nd September, 2020.

Alleging conspiracy, the residents say that at first one or two fanatics would buy property at high rate. Then the Hindus in the area get influenced and sell their homes. Later, when the demography changes, the remaining Hindus end up having to sell their property at lower rates because of change in demography. “A lot of Hindu areas are now dominated by fanatics,” the letter says. The residents further insist that a high level probe is initiated for such transfer of property.

The state government implemented the Disturbed Areas Act in some parts of Hathikhana in 2019 after the area witnessed incidents of communal riots.

A resident of the town who hung a banner outside his home said they have done so to draw administration’s attention towards ‘non-implementation or slack implementation’ of the provisions of the Disturbed Areas Act in the town leading to polarisation of a particular community, report by The Indian Express.

Meanwhile, Bharuch in-charge Collector and District Development Officer, Yogesh Chaudhary, said, “The Disturbed Areas Act has been laid out in some areas of Hathikhana in Bharuch in 2019. A couple of months ago, the Home department had also included 500 metres of surrounding areas under the Disturbed Areas Act. We will look into the issue where there are problems and see if it is properly implemented,” he said.

Source : OpIndia and The Indian Express