Recently a sand artist had made headlines for making a sand sculpture portraying Hindi-Muslim unity in the nation, however, four Muslim doctors – residents of the Kudghat area of Kolkata – are being forced to vacate their rented houses as they are ‘Muslims’.
The four Muslim doctors, who have been identified as Aftab Alam, Mojtaba Hassan, Nasir Shaikh and Sawkat Shaikh, are currently doing their house-staffship from various hospitals in the city. The doctors, who have been living in the flat for the past two months, said that their landlord has no objection to their religion but the people living in the colony are not keen with the idea of having Muslim neighbours.
“Our landlord did not have any problem with us but, right from the beginning, some of our neighbours created a hostile situation. Things worsened on Monday when a friend came to visit us. He was heckled by some neighbours who asked him to show an ‘identity proof’. One of them – a middle-aged man – has asked us to find accommodation elsewhere as we are Muslims,” said Aftab Alam to a national daily.
“They can treat us when we are ill, but can’t be our neighbours.” This was the message conveyed to the Muslim doctors.
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This is not the first time that the youth have been treated in this manner. The four had earlier too faced discrimination on grounds of religion and landlords have refused to rent houses to them.
Four Medical College and Hospital alumni are now counting their days at their Kudghat flat and have approached a volunteers’ group to resist their eviction.
