Mumbai's Gujaratis are worried by the campaign against non-Marathis and many of them plan to shift to Gujarat
The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and the Shiv Sena’s campaign against non-Marathis living in Mumbai is beginning to worry the Gujarati community in that metropolis. It is true that the campaign is directed mainly against North Indians in the city but it is sufficiently unpleasant to make many Gujarati Mumbaikars consider shifting to Gujarat for safety. Some Gujaratis from Mumbai have already purchased apartments in Ahmedabad and
many others are on the lookout for properties that they can buy.
Six Gujaratis from Mumbai, who happen to be cousins as well, recently struck a deal for seven apartments in a housing scheme in the South Bopal area of Ahmedabad. “We have booked seven apartments in South Bopal for our six families,” said Nita Shah.
The 43-year-old Mumbaikar is in government service.
Explaining why the cousins had bought so many flats together, Shah said that, apart from their love for Gujarat, they had also been driven by the anxiety caused by the campaign against non-Marathis in Mumbai. “We were born and brought up in Mumbai and we love the city, too,” she said. “But we feel more at home in Ahmedabad because our family originally came from this city. We plan to spend at least six months in Ahmedabad every year after retirement.”
She said that following their decision to purchase property in Ahmedabad, many more Gujarati Mumbaikars had started thinking about buying property in their cities of origin in Gujarat.
Another Gujarati Mumbaikar, Sanjay Joshi, is a chartered accountant who currently lives in the Kandivali area of Mumbai. He said he had asked his cousin in Ahmedabad to look for property in the city that he could buy. Joshi is confident that because of the immense contribution of Gujaratis to the development of Mumbai and their substantial presence in trade and industry, the two Senas will not attack Gujarati Mumbaikars.
“But our sense of security has been shaken by all that happened in Mumbai in the recent past,” said Joshi.
“Some of the recent purchases were made by Gujarati Mumbai kars who are worried by the campaign against non-Marathis in the city,” said a leading real estate developer of Ahmedabad.
Jaxay Shah, president of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Associations of India (Gujarat), said Gujaratis living in Mumbai are thinking about shifting to Gujarat after the MNS launched its campaign against North Indians in that city.
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