Muslims unwelcome? Yes, says Emraan Hashmi

New Delhi: Accusing a Mumbai housing society of religious profiling and discrimination, actor Emraan Hashmi on Friday said that he never though he would have to give a “character certificate” to buy a house.
Hashmi tried buying an apartment in Mumbai’s posh Pali Hill locality but the actor believes the housing society is discriminating against him because he is a Muslim. He has filed a complaint with the State Minorities' Commission, demanding action against the housing society’s members.
“It is a very tricky situation. Nobody will tell you on your face that you will not be given a flat because you are Muslim. They did not tell me openly but it was very evident,” Hashmi said.
“It is a basic issue of me being Muslim. If as a celebrity I am facing such problem one can easily understand the problem faced by the common man,” he added.
Addressing a press conference in Mumbai along with filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, Hashmi said, “I never thought that I had to get a character certificate. I want to know why I am being not being given a NOC (no objection certificate).”
Hashmi explained how the society members were not forthcoming with his request to buy an apartment. “They delayed the NOC for five days and eventually I got to know that they don’t want me to get a membership in that society,” he said.
“There are lots of other places like Bandra where brokers say they don’t approach societies because of biases,” he added.
The actor also alleged that to dodge the issue now many are saying that “since I am a serial kisser in the movies so I will be a bad influence to the children around me.”
To which Mahesh Bhatt said, “In that building many Bollywood actors live. Some have done negative roles then how come they have been allowed to stay there?”
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Minorities Commission Vice-Chairman Abraham Mathai said the Commission is sending a notice to the housing society.
“Emraan Hashmi has complained that the building society is refusing to give him NOC to complete the transaction of the deal to buy the flat. He has given Rs 1 lakh as token money. Building society refuses to give NOC because he is a Muslim. He has made a written complaint. We are sending a notice to the society chairman. We will ask them to explain their stand. No such complaint filed ever,” Mathai said.

I think it should be left to housing societies to decide who they may want as members. If they decide not to have a member by virtue of his or her religion, social standing, cultural background or whatever else, so be it. A case would arise only if a prospective member was kept out by categorizing him wrongly. After all, we have exclusive colonies for Parsis, don't we? And we have reservations based on caste, region, language and religion. The Indian constitution of course is against discrimination between citizens on any ground. But the constitution itself gives protection to reservations. This dichotomy must be removed before attempting to break down segregation barriers. All these segregations, under one name or the other, would no doubt prove detrimental to the nation in the long run. Therefore let us start a revolution in social equality by getting rid of constitutional protection for reservations before pouncing on isolated housing societies who may deny admissions to categories of people who they may fear may not be in rhythm with their preferred values of living.

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