The Mumbai BJP President Mangal Prabhat Lodha raised the issue of Hindu exodus underway at the Malad-Malvani region while speaking at the Vidhan Sabha on Thursday. Dubbing it as ‘Malvani Pattern’, the BJP leader said the exodus of Hindus is a part of a bigger pattern that was witnessed in areas such as Kashmir, Kairana, and Assam where Hindu minorities were threatened and intimidated to leave.
आसाम, कैराना, काश्मीर प्रमाणे मालवणी येथील हिंदूंची बिकट अवस्था
— Mangal Prabhat Lodha (@MPLodha) March 4, 2021
प्रभू रामचंद्रांचे पोस्टर तेथे फाडले गेले!#AssemblySession@narendramodi @AmitShah @JPNadda @Dev_Fadnavis pic.twitter.com/lJTQ6UXJ6l
“There is a pattern to this Hindu exodus. They are being threatened and intimidated to leave their houses. A concerted attempt is being made to evict them. Just like Kashmir, Kairana witnessed the exodus of Hindus, Malvani in Mumbai is also witnessing the same,” Lodha said.
Lodha, an MLA from the Malabar Hill assembly constituency, was participating in the ongoing discussion on the supplementary demands related to the Home Department when he expressed concerns over the decreasing population of Hindu voters in the Malvani assembly constituency.
“If you look at the Vidhan Sabha voters list in Malad-Malvani region, the number of Hindu voters have reduced by about 15,000 while the Muslim voters have risen by 12,000,” Lodha said.
Besides, Lodha said Hindus in Malvani are being persecuted through a planned conspiracy which entails evicting them so that Rohingya Muslims, Bangladeshis and others could be settled. Giving the example of Chheda Nagar of Malvani, Lodha said more than half of 106 Hindu families who used to stay earlier had left the neighbourhood. He urged chief minister Uddhav Thackeray to take cognisance of the matter and asked him to constitute a separate committee to look into the persecution of Hindu residents in the region.
मालवणीतील परिस्थितीसाठी एक कमिटी बनवावी
— Mangal Prabhat Lodha (@MPLodha) March 4, 2021
तेथील अनेक वस्त्यांना हिंदू विरहित केले जात आहे.
मालवणी की इस परिस्थितिपर विशेष कमिटी का गठन हो
वहा की बस्तीओं को किया जा रहा है हिन्दू विरहित!#AssemblySession @narendramodi @AmitShah @JPNadda @Dev_Fadnavis pic.twitter.com/MevHNk4UYv
The BJP leader also spoke about the posters of Lord Ram being torn apart by police officials in Malvani. He said not only police personnel ripped apart the posters but they also filed an FIR against those who reported the incident.
In January 2021, at least three VHP leaders were arrested for putting up posters of Ram Mandir Nidhi Sankalan Abhiyan, a mass contact and contribution campaign for the construction of a Bhavya & Divya mandir at the birthplace of Bhagwan Shri Ramlalla in Ayodhya. After returning in the evening, the VHP workers allegedly saw police officials removing the Ram Mandir Nidhi Sankalan posters and tearing them apart. Some VHP workers started recording the incident on their mobile phones. Realising that their act is being recorded on the mobile phone, one of the police officers accosted the VHP workers and purportedly started beating them.
Speaking about the intimidation and threat received by Hindu residents in Malvani, Lodha raised questions on police inaction against the culprits. He said no action has been taken about the complaint filed by him at the Malvani police station.
Muslim ruffians allegedly associated Maha cabinet minister accused of encroaching Hindu houses in Mumbai’s Malvani
Earlier in January, Lodha paid a visit to Malvani and met with the Hindu residents who were reportedly harassed by the Muslim ruffians to leave the region. Lodha had then filed a complaint with the local police and asked them to act against the hoodlums threatening the Hindu population.
The residents of the region claimed that the goons enjoyed political patronage from the local Congress MLA Aslam Shaikh, also a cabinet minister in the Maha Vikas Aghadi government. Allegedly, emboldened by their leader’s support, the Muslim hooligans have unabatedly encroached their lands and built madrassas and dargahs on government lands, the victims’ claim.
The victims also said the police had so far not taken any credible action against the culprits despite a number of FIRs filed in connection with the unlawful encroachment of their houses. Besides appropriating their houses, the victims alleged that the Muslim goons were also responsible for rampant drug peddling, unauthorised constructions and other illegal activities in their neighbourhood.
