Uttar Pradesh: Muslim man in Meerut accused of 'land jihad' for buying house in Hindu locality

A Muslim family in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut district was allegedly prevented from taking possession of a house purchased from a Hindu man and were accused of committing ’land jihad’, according to several media reports. The incident reportedly took place on  17 December, when Usman Ahmad, a software engineer purchased a section of the two-storeyed building in the Hindu-dominated Maliwara locality from a Hindu businessman, reported  The Indian Express. According to media reports, Sanjay Rastogi, a businessman had sold his house to Usman’s family for Rs 28 lakh. Days after the property was registered in the name of Usman’s elder brother Nauman, their family reached the new home on 17 December. [caption id=“attachment_4269777” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AFP[/caption] When Rastogi reached his house to give the possession of the property to Nauman, residents of the area objected to it and staged a protest, reported Hindustan Times. The report further said that the local police rushed to the spot immediately and tried to resolve the matter. However, the matter aggravated when the local residents protesting against the Ahmad family’s entry were supported by politicians, including the corporator of the area. According to the  Hindustan Times report, Deepak Sharma, general secretary of the BJP’s  youth wing BJYM, claim that Hindus are “continuously selling properties… Muslims are buying them”. The Indian Express quoted Sharma as saying that their ‘culture, thoughts and way of life are different from ours’ and said that with time, the area would be dominated by Muslims. Usman was quoted by The Indian Express as saying that the family bought the house in Maliwara as it was close to the school where his father works. However, according to ANI, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Maan Singh Chouhan said that the issue was a minor one and that it was resolved. He was quoted by ANI as saying, “The issue was not a big one and was resolved after talking to both the parties.” A day after the incident, the Bajrang Dal convenor for Meerut province, Balraj Dungar released several statements said that the minority community in several areas in Meerut have done this to dominate the area. He was quoted by The Times of India as saying that there is a ‘sinister conspiracy’ by minority communities to buy houses in Hindu-dominated areas. Dungar said that this would lead to an exodus of Hindu residents, and that this ‘comes under land jihad.’