MUMBAI: Flat buyers and tenants in the city have long known to be discriminated against on the basis of their food preferences and non-vegetarians discreetly kept out of several housing societies, even areas. But a 27-year-old businessman was taken aback to learn he couldn’t buy a flat as he was a ‘Maharashtrian’. Vaibhav Rahate tried to book a flat in an upcoming high-rise at Malad West earlier this month and was reportedly told the apartments were not for sale to “Maharashtrians, Muslims and other non-vegetarian buyers”.

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He immediately approached the Malad police who recorded his statement but failed to take any action for 25 days. On Friday, after Rahate along with city Congress president Sanjay Nirupam, demonstrated outside the police station, zonal DCP Vikram Deshmane instructed the Malad cops to conduct an inquiry and file an FIR.

The Shrinathji Group of developers, which is constructing the high-rise, denied any discrimination. “We were not comfortable dealing with Rahate due to his approach. The manner in which he spoke made our staff sceptical. We need to develop a rapport with our clients during a transaction. We have already sold a flats in the project to a Sindhi buyer and a shop to a Punjabi buyer. Besides, one of the directors of our company is Maharashtrian,” said Sagar Bekal, a spokesperson for the Shrinathji group.

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Rahate, a dealer in used cars, lives in Goregaon and wanted to book a 1-BHK for his sister. On May 4, he went to the under-construction Celestial Heights on SV Road. “I was directed to the site office where I met a staffer named Varun. He asked my name and asked me to wait outside for a few minutes. Half an hour later, he met me again. I asked him about the property rates and area, as well as a brochure. But Varun flatly told me the flats were not available for sale to Maharashtrians, Muslims and other non-vegetarian buyers. He said the developers preferred only Gujarati and Marwari buyers. I was aghast and asked if we were supposed to change our dietary habits if we wanted to buy a flat,” Rahate told TOI.

He went straight to Malad police station, where his statement was recorded. A constable was sent with him back to the construction site. This time around Rahate made a video clip of his conversation with Varun in the presence of the cop. “Varun came with us to the police station and I made another video clip of him apologizing. Later, Varun’s superiors met the station in-charge. Once they left, the cops’ attitude changed and they wouldn’t entertain me for weeks. I had no option but to approach political parties. After other parties failed to help, I met Congress MLA Aslam Shaikh,” said Rahate. Senior inspector Milind Khetle of Malad police told TOI that Rahate had not submitted the video recordings to them earlier.

“Mumbai is a cosmopolitan city. People from every corner of our country used to come here and live together. This is what makes Mumbai a great place. However, a new trend has emerged with builders and business houses discriminating against people of a particular community or on the basis of their being vegetarian. This will destroy the very culture of Mumbai. Police must take a proactive role to curb this. While countries like UK have strong anti-racism laws, India too should have a law against discrimination,” Nirupam said.

Read this in Hindi: मुंबई में बिल्डर का मराठी को फ्लैट बेचने से इनकार

