Something akin to Kashmiri Pandit exodus from Jammu and Kashmir in the 1990s and more recently the Kairana exodus of minority Hindus is underway at the Mumbai suburb of Malwani, Malad. Hindus, including many belonging to the SC/ST category, have been targeted by the Muslim ruffians in the neighbourhood, forcing them to flee the place they have been calling their homes for decades.
In Mumbai’s Malwani, a Muslim majority region, the Hindu minority is constantly threatened and intimidated by the Muslim hooligans to force them into leaving their homes and lands. From once having more than 100 Hindu families, the locality now houses a mere 8-10 Hindu families and even they are planning to leave the area for the fear of persecution from the Muslim thugs.
According to the residents of the region, the goons enjoy political patronage from the local Congress MLA Aslam Shaikh, who is also a cabinet minister in the Maha Vikas Aghadi government. Allegedly, emboldened by their leader’s support, the Muslim hooligans have unabatedly encroached their lands and built madrassas and dargahs on government lands, the victims’ claim.
The victims also asserted that the police have so far not taken any credible action against the culprits despite a number of FIRs filed in connection with the unlawful encroachment of their houses by the Muslim thugs. Besides appropriating their houses, the victims alleged that the Muslim goons were also responsible for rampant drug peddling, unauthorised constructions and other illegal activities in their neighbourhood.
Mumbai BJP President Mangal Prabhat Lodha visits victims of oppression by Muslim goons in Malwani
BJP Mumbai President Mangal Prabhat Lodha took cognisance of the plight of the Hindu minority in Malwani and paid a visit to the region yesterday. Lodha, along with other local BJP leaders, met with the residents of the area and took stock of the situation.
Lodha said that the condition of the Hindus, including Dalit victims, in Malwani is similar to what happened to Kashmiri Pandits in Kashmir in the early 1990s. He also urged the local administration and police officials to shun favouritism and act impartially against the perpetrators for coercing the Dalit minorities into vacating their houses.
Lodha took to Twitter to inform about his visit to Malwani on Sunday.
अवैध निर्माण, ड्रग पैडलर जैसी अनेक समस्याएं भी उभर कर आ रही है, इन सब मे हमारे दलित बंधुओं को जो पीड़ा हो रही हैं, उनमें दहशत पैदा करने का प्रयास किया जा रहा है, उसका तुरंत समाधान स्थानिक प्रशासन करे, एवं पुलिस दल पक्षपात किए बिना उन्हें सुरक्षा प्रदान करें।
— Mangal Prabhat Lodha (@MPLodha) January 3, 2021
2/2 pic.twitter.com/iFtvVElccU
Muslim goons enjoy support from local MLA and Maha cabinet minister Aslam Shaikh: BJP Mandal President Sunil Koli
Following the visit of Lodha to Malwani, OpIndia got in touch with Mandal President Sunil Koli, who spoke about the travails faced by the Hindus and Dalits in the Muslim-dominated region of Malwani. Koli stated that the Muslim goons who are threatening Dalits to leave the place, enjoy support from the local leader and Maharashtra cabinet minister Aslam Shaikh.
“These Muslim goons who go around threatening people to vacate their houses and land and pressurise them into selling them at nominal rates operate under the tutelage of local MLA Aslam Sheikh. They have their photos printed below Shaikh’s picture on big hoardings across the area. They are strengthening Muslim vote-bank for their leader by forcing others to leave,” Koli said.
The leader also alleged that once upon a time more than 100 Hindu families lived in the area but now only 8-10 Hindu families exist. Most of have them fled the place after being threatened by the Muslim hoodlums. He also added that now the focus of Muslim goons have shifted to Dalit families living in the region and they are being subjected to similar kind of threats and intimidation as witnessed by the Hindu families.
Madrassas and Muslim shrines illegally built on Maharashtra government-owned land: Sunil Koli
“The Muslims goons have illegally occupied the houses of Hindus in chawl no. 7 behind the Bhaji Market. They are now harassing Dalits to vacate the place. Their houses are being attacked. Their women are being molested,” Koli said.
Koli further added that unauthorised madrassas and dargahs have sprung up at a number of places in Malwani. He stated that these madrassas and dargahs were built on the land owned by the Maharashtra government.
“Another important point to be noted here is the sudden emergence of several unsanctioned madrassas and dargahs in these chawls that are under the jurisdiction of Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority(MHADA). A dargah and a madrassa have come up in chawl no. 5 in Chheda complex,” Koli said.
Speaking on the further course of action to be taken by the BJP, Koli informed us that they have given an ultimatum to the police officials to initiate action in the matter and submit them a report of the same to them by January 15. If the police fail in addressing the grievances of the victims, the saffron party would hit the roads and protest against the harassment of Dalits at the hands of the Muslim thugs in the region, he added.