Broker puts up 'No Muslims' ad on property site

Finding a home in the city to call your own is an uphill arduous task But for one section of society it appears that the task isnrsquot simply difficult but almost impossible owing to a deepseated prejudice against the community A brokerrsquos advertisement on a property portal has displayed the intolerance some have towards Muslims The screen shot of the ad put up on the portal by Vishal Drsquosouza that categorically said lsquoNo Muslimsrsquo He later clarified that the ad meant there were no Muslims living in the building A posting put up on November 2 on the portal read lsquoExcellent brand new 2BHK fully furnished flat with cross ventilation natural light Cosmopolitan society no Muslims with car parking on immediate sale fifth floor interested please callrsquo The home in question is located at Dadarrsquos Hindu Colony and was put up by broker Vishal Drsquosouza When MiD DAY approached Drsquosouza he denied he was trying to discriminate or be partial but was simply stating that the society had no Muslim residents as of date ldquoI wasnrsquot discriminating against any religion What I meant was that the society had no Muslimsrdquo he saidu00a0Following our conversation with him and uproar over the issue on social networking sites Drsquosouza promptly changed his ad and removed the objectionable words No Muslims Not the first time Another broker on the condition of anonymity however insisted that while the incident was shameful it wasnrsquot the first time that it had occurred ldquoThis is not an exclusive case There are buildings that are exclusive for people belonging to a particular community However no one has ever put it on record The prejudice has existed for all these years but never was it displayed so brazenlyrdquo Other brokers chimed in that it was not just Muslims who faced discrimination ldquoThere are buildings that donrsquot allow nonvegetarians and then there are other societies that donrsquot allow people from other castes And then come the Parsi colonies which categorically refuse any nonParsis wanting to buy homes in their societiesrdquo said another broker Itrsquos not just your religion your caste or your food habits that can pose a problem while purchasing a home Itrsquos also your marital status In the past many singletons have complained that they hadnrsquot been given homes on the pretext that they were troublemakers Canrsquot buy a home There are other cases in the past which display this prejudice gtgt In 2008 noted actor and MP Shabana Azmi complained that she and her husband Javed Akhtar could not buy a flat in Mumbai due to religious discrimination gtgtu00a0In 2009 actor Emraan Hashmi had alleged that he was denied a home in a particular building because the society didnrsquot allow Muslims gtgtu00a0In March 2012 the Nawab of Pataudi Saif Ali Khan said that even though he bought a house in Bandra he had been turned down several times by builders gtgtu00a0In October 2013 Imitiaz Ali director of Rockstar apparently faced discrimination while finding a home in Andheri owing to him being single Expertspeak Ajay Chaturvedi realty expert claims that such forms of direct discrimination arenrsquot a healthy way of doing business ldquoIndia is a secular country and such discrimination would lead to further trouble and make it more difficult to maintain communal harmony People should avoid this kind of discriminationrdquo ldquoThis is marginalising a particular community the Islamophobia thatrsquos spread by rightwing politics In a country like India which is secular and multicultural such things cannot influence the people Itrsquos time for political parties promoting such views to understand that the country will grow together I give this voice as an Indian and such a trend of marginalising has to be stoppedrdquo said Dr Zeenat Shaukat Ali founder and directorgeneral Wisdom Foundationu00a0