Housing Quota for Muslims?

The Minority View had earlier raised the issue of discrimination and ghettoism in housings for Muslims. Political leaders are now alive of the matter, and it seems that the Maharashtra Government may soon set  up a specialized body to assess the need and feasibility for quota for Muslims. The statements made by Mr. Sharad Pawar can be accessed here, and here . 

The Minority View appreciates the proposed evidence and need based intervention of the Government. 

Housing Discrimination

In this blog on TheLawandOtherThings, Tarunabh Khaitan (Lecturer, Christ Church College, University of Oxford) raises several Constitutional questions concerning the issue of discrimination that arises out of the Supreme Court decision in Zoroastrian Co-operative Housing Society Limited v. District Registrar Co-operative Societies (2005) that allowed housing societies to sell and lease premises to only to persons of a particular community. 

Tarunabh points out that often the qualification prescribed by the housing societies are, for instance worded in terms of dietary preferences, that by its very nature tend to exclude persons of a particular religion. Such an approach may potentially be used to deny housing opportunities to targeted groups that have certain identified preferences / habits.

An article in the Frontline highlights on emergence of 'ghettos' in post-riot Gujarat that make the subjects of discrimination more vulnerable to systematic violence and discrimination.

The House on Gulmohar Avenue by Sameena Mishra: A documentary on the housing discrimination issue albeit from an identity perspective is available here. 

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