Posters Discouraging Hindus from Selling Homes to Muslims Appear in Delhi

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Posters have surfaced in different parts of India’s Brahmpuri (Shahdara district), threatening Hindus not to sell their properties to Muslims and that any property sold to them will not be registered.

The rough translation of the notice stated: "Hindu house owners in the Brahmapuri area are notified not to sell their house to Muslims. Sell at your own risk, for street residents shall not allow such sales to be registered. All future transactions must be between Hindus."

These posters were issued by advocate Pradeep Sharma of Lane No. 13, Brahmpuri. The posters also seek to regulate all future transactions for properties to be between Hindus only.

A pediatrician named Nafees Ahmed, who runs a clinic in the area, said that when riots were happening in some parts of northeast Delhi in 2020, the Brahmpuri area remained unscathed from the violence due to the efforts of the residents. He also said that "This road, Lane No. 13, has a majority of shops owned by Muslims on one side while on the other side, most of the shops are owned by Hindus. However, if you would look at the overall population, the majority are Muslims. During the riots of 2020, the Muslims saved the shops of Hindus here. They supported them wholeheartedly. Many Muslim residents openly assured their Hindu brothers that they need not fear anything. They even patrolled the area at night to ensure that miscreants did not cause any harm."

Dr. Ahmed continued, "So we have never had any kind of such communal tension in this area. As such, these posters only seek to communalize the atmosphere. Some people are engaged in such work. There is also a feeling that the ruling party may be behind this to increase the vote percentage in their favor. Whoever is putting these up is sending a clear message that he is a radical Hindu and will not let anyone sell their property to Muslims. But overall, there is not much tension in the area right now."

According to the pediatrician, several peace committees in their locality work with various communities to make sure that differences of any kind are solved in the early stage.

"Our former MLA, Chaudhary Mateen Ahmed, is a prominent Congress leader. Despite being a Muslim, he used to get a lot of support from the Hindus. He used to also organize various events, like the largest Kanwar camp, for the Hindus. So when he was the legislator, there never used to be this kind of tension. Also, there is a large Hindu population on the other side of Brahmpuri, and they used to support 'Chaudhary sahab' a great deal," said Dr. Ahmed.

However, shortly after Mateen Ahmed was replaced, the situation in the area started to change a bit. Dr. Ahmed said that this change "is wrong."

Most of the buyers of the properties being sold in the area are Muslims, said Dr. Ahmed. "The non-Muslims are gradually moving out. This is the reason why some people have now started saying that do not sell your properties to Muslims."

"This is an unauthorized area, but if you would go to even authorized areas like Yamuna Vihar, where I reside, there too you will observe this trend and mentality. Barring some blocks, Muslims are not allowed to make purchases elsewhere. I also wanted to purchase a property but was refused outright. Also, in Hindu areas, houses are not given on rent to Muslims," Dr. Ahmed added, noting that similar incidents are happening in several other parts of Northeast Delhi. He says this has been happening for the last 4-5 years, and the situation worsened after the riot.

"After the riots," Dr. Ahmed said, "the few Muslims remaining in Hindu majority areas have also started their properties, and so is the case with Hindus living in Muslim majority areas. There is a sense of unease and insecurity among many such residents."

Dr. Ahmed said that the mentality of staying away from Muslims is rising, and Hindus are starting to distance themselves from Muslims. A large number of people are thinking of relocating to more well-developed places like Noida, he added.

Gaurav Sharma, the leader of the Aam Aadmi Party of Brahmpuri, said that posters have also surfaced in an area that is a part of the ward under Gautam Puri's watch. "Since the 2020 riots, people from both sides have been working to improve the situation and build confidence among the communities. But in between, you find some such people come in who again create tension. They just want to spoil the atmosphere," said Sharma.

Sharma also said there was no need to put up such posters. In case anyone had any problems that could have been solved by contacting the resident welfare association (RWA) or other people in the same area.

"What happens because of such actions like putting up posters is that people who are working towards mediation or towards bringing people from both sides together, so that once again there is pyaar mohabbat [ love and amicability] between the two sides, they end up losing face."

Sharma said that they are putting effort into making the situation back to normal again. "When I learned that posters have been put up in Brahmpuri, I checked up with the area residents. It was then I realized that the posters had been put up in the Gautam Puri area. I asked the local residents to ensure that we do not return to the situation which existed three years ago. It was time which we still find difficult to forget and come out of."

Sharma condemned the actions of Pradeep Sharma and contemplated, "who has time for such nonsense."

Meanwhile, Pradeep Sharma has denied every allegation against him for publishing or putting up the posters. He said, "I have not taken action against those who have circulated these posters. However, if I get attacked, I'll complain against those people. I know them…I have found out who are the people behind this. I am going to sell my house, but because there's a temple in my house, some people circulated this message so that Muslims don't buy my property."

Pradeep Sharma has no problems with the content of the posters but thinks that the one responsible for circulating them shouldn't have used his name. He said he prefers selling his house to Hindus but is completely fine with selling to Muslims.

The perpetrators are unwilling to present themselves, and local police tried contacting them on the phone but to no avail. They refused to make any comments on the situation.

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