Tension simmers in Gaushala Pashmi, a mostly Hindu neighborhood in Muzaffarnagar, after local Hindutva activists resisted a Muslim family's recent house purchase. They branded it "house jihad," a phrase from Islamophobic rhetoric that falsely claims Muslims intentionally infiltrate Hindu-majority areas.
Ali Hasan, the property buyer, reported that activists have repeatedly visited his home, urging his family to vacate. “In the recent past, on different occasions, a group of individuals, four to five known and 15 to 20 unknown persons, came to my house and forcefully asked us to leave and threatened us with dire consequences,” he told.
Hasan said the activists argued that Muslims do not belong in Hindu areas and staged protests nearby. They also plastered posters calling for ongoing meetings to rally residents and intensify pressure on the family.
Both parties have lodged complaints at Kotwali police station, each accusing the other of threats and disturbances. Authorities have yet to announce any specific steps taken.
The Congress party slammed the Uttar Pradesh government, claiming it has empowered Hindutva forces. The opposition vowed to dispatch a delegation to back the family. “It is a known fact that an organised pattern is at play across U.P. to disturb communal harmony and terrorise minorities. This incident of disturbing a Muslim for buying property in a Hindu-dominated colony is the latest of many such incidents,” said senior U.P. Congress leader Anil Yadav. He called on officials to intervene firmly to rebuild trust and avert communal strife.
This case fits a broader pattern. Housing disputes involving Muslim buyers have flared in Muzaffarnagar and nearby districts recently, with Hindutva protests pressuring sales. Similar issues have cropped up in Moradabad, often tied to fears of shifting demographics.
In 2024, one Muzaffarnagar Muslim buyer reportedly relinquished his property amid persistent local opposition.
A parallel uproar hit Moradabad in December 2024, when Hindu residents of the TDI Society protested a house sale to a Muslim doctor. They chanted “Makan wapas lo” (“Take back your house”) and sought to void the registration.
The episode unfolded shortly after Supreme Court Justice Ujjal Bhuyan highlighted societal divides. He noted that despite courts pushing constitutional morality, discrimination persists—citing how his daughter’s friend was denied a Delhi flat purely for being Muslim.