Moradabad: A house sale in Uttar Pradesh’s Moradabad sparked protests on Thursday after residents of TDI City society objected to the property being sold to a doctor from the Muslim community. Demonstrators chanted slogans like “Makan wapas lo” (take back the house) at the society gate and targeted the seller Dr Ashok Bajaj, for selling his home to Dr Ikra Chaudhary.
The residents said they are afraid that the presence of someone from another community could disrupt the area’s “demographic balance.” They said that the locality, home to over 400 Hindu families, was a “Hindu society” and insisted that no people from other communities should live there. Protesters carried banners demanding Bajaj reverse the sale and cited the house’s closeness to a temple as a key concern, The Hindustan Times reported.
Protesters fear ‘demographic imbalance’
Amit Verma, the chairman of TDI City society, also participated in the demonstration. “We are worried about the demographic composition of our society and fear that unwanted changes will occur if people from other communities start settling here and it will lead to an exodus of Hindu residents,” said a protester.
District Magistrate Anuj Kumar Singh said that society members had lodged a complaint against the sale. “We are in discussions with all parties involved and are working toward a consensus-driven resolution,” he said. Both the buyer and seller were unavailable for comment.
Sambhal violence
This incident follows another communal dispute in Uttar Pradesh, where clashes erupted on November 24 in Sambhal during an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) inspection of a Mughal-era mosque. The survey, ordered by a local court after a petition claimed the mosque was built on a Harihar temple site, led to violence that resulted in four deaths and injuries to both police personnel and locals.
