A Hindu woman who sold her property to a Muslim woman in Gujarat’s Surat faced restrictions in early February after authorities sealed the property, citing violating the Disturbed Areas Act. The action was taken after Hindu residents from the seller’s housing society sent objections and complaints to the Surat district collectorate.
Hate campaign by residents
Following the property sale, the Hindu society members launched a hate campaign targeting both the Muslim and the Hindu women. The Muslim property buyer who lives in Salabatpura Village had already made a partial payment toward the purchase.
The authorities argue that the transaction broke the Disturbed Areas Act rules that protect specific sensitive areas during property sales.
Similarly, the society members claimed the property transaction dishonoured the regulations stated in Sections 5(a) and 5(b) of the Act. The law requires anyone planning to sell property within disturbed areas must seek approval from the district collector, who is then ordered to investigate while hearing all involved parties before allowing or denying property sale.
Similar incident
However, this is not the first time that a Muslim community member has faced a boycott or opposition for buying a property in Hindu-dominated areas in Gujarat. Earlier in June 2024, The Motnath Residency Housing Cooperative Housing Society Limited in Gujarat’s Harni district protested against the allotment of a government flat to a Muslim woman.
The society built under the Mukhyamantri Awas Yojana scheme for low-income groups has 461 houses. The residents have been living in the society for six to seven years. The Hindu residents staged huge protests, claiming the allocation of the house to the Muslim family was a violation of the “Disturbance Act” being in effect in the area.
‘Disturbed areas Act’
The Gujarat Prohibition of Transfer of Immovable Property and Provision for Protection of Tenants from Premises in Disturbed Areas Act functions under the title “Disturbed Areas Act.” This legislation gives administrative powers to mark specific locations as “disturbed” when communal tensions require such action.
This designation restricts property transfers to prevent demographic shifts that could incite further social discord. The act requires sellers to submit documentation containing a sworn statement which confirms both the voluntary nature of the sale and the market-fair value of the property. Violations of the act can result in jail sentences as well as financial penalties.
In 2020, amendments to the Act Collector received additional power to evaluate residential transactions that might cluster community members leading to area demographics changes.
Protests in other BJP states
However, these incidents are not only restricted to Gujarat under “special acts”. Other BJP-ruled states especially Uttar Pradesh have faced the same protests from Hindu residents who opposed the arrival of Muslim families into their society or neighbourhoods.
On December 3, 2024, a large number of Hindus staged a protest in Pradesh’s Moradabad, after a house in the TDI City, a residential society mainly occupied by Hindus, was sold to Muslim couple Dr Yusuf Malik and Dr Iqra Chaudhry.
The outrage sparked in the locality after a Hindu doctor, Dr Ashok Bajaj, reportedly conducted the sale. The residents claimed they fear demographic changes and potential shifts in the community’s character.
While speaking to reporters, the protesters, primarily women expressed their anger and stated, “We have a sanatani culture in our colony. We won’t allow people from another community to live here.”
In August 2024, Hindus of Vakeelo Wali Gali, a residential area in Bareilly’s Punjab Pura area protested against a Muslim family who had purchased a house in their locality. In this case, the Muslim family was not welcomed and demanded an immediate annulment of the property’s registration. They even threatened a mass exodus if their demand was not met.
In September 2024, right-wing groups and local Hindu residents staged a protest against Nadeem, a Muslim advocate who had purchased a house in a Hindu-dominated area.
Subsequently, Ashok Bharti, a member of the Valmiki community who sold the property to Nadeem, released a video statement and addressed the allegations. Bharti claimed that no one was willing to buy the house because of derogatory remarks about his neighbourhood which belonged to a lower caste, which hindered his ability to pay off the bank loan.
