I saw some outrage yesterday on social media and news channels about a young woman in Mumbai asked to vacate her flat because of her surname. Misbah Quadri, who had moved into a three-bedroom apartment in Wadala, was allegedly told by her broker that she could not move in the flat as the society was averse Muslim tenants.
The girl was interviewed by various news channels, and we pretended that we woke up to a phenomenon . Really ? How many of us have Muslim friends who haven't shared stories of not being able to get an apartment because of their surname in "cosmopolitan" metros like Delhi and Mumbai?
I remember arriving at a Greater Kailash apartment in South Delhi with my bag and baggage all the way from Mumbai to find the door locked. I had met the family who owned the flat a week before that - the son, a doctor who was in Delhi for vacation from London, the father a businessman from Haryana. When I landed at the gate, the watchman said he had no instructions to allow me in. I had a contract; a deposit had been paid to the owner, and brokerage to the concerned broker. I called the broker half a dozen times and he pleaded ignorance. He reached the house half an hour later to return the deposit and the brokerage commission.
"Madam, kuch Nizamuddin mein dikhaoon, aapke type area mein," he said, pointing me in the direction of a neighbourhood popular with Muslims in Delhi." I don't think I have ever felt so humiliated. Others have shared this crisis. A photo journalist from the city had to stay in a sort of hostel in Daryaganj in Old Delhi for two months because the owners who promised to rent him their flat were concerned about terror links - after all, he was both a Muslim and a Kashmiri.
The incident of Misbah Quadri has shocked us because it took place in Mumbai, a cosmopolitan city. Apologies, but I am hugely surprised at the outrage. Remember, this is a city where brokers tell you that certain pockets of Nariman Point are only meant for occupancy by Jains, and an owner of a popular penthouse in Walkeshwar has said he wants no Muslim to enter his house for fear of Goddess Lakshmi walking out in protest.
For a moment, let's forget the upmarket, elite, educated South Mumbai circle. My family stays in Navi Mumbai; my younger brother will be moving into a three-bedroom apartment close to where my parents stay in Vashi. For the last eight months, the builder and his broker have been trying to convince him to sell the flat, with the owner of the apartment building personally willing to placate him with a wholly unexpected profit margin. The reason - out of about 60 flats in the fifteen-storey building, the rest belong to non-Muslims and they "would not want any display of flesh during Bakri Eid" in the words of the builder.
In the last six months, my brother has had the humiliating experience of being called to the society's office and being asking to vacate, though the requests are now less aggressive with my brother threatening to file a police case should there be any attempt at intimidation.
His friends tell him he is lucky to have managed an apartment in a posh locality in Navi Mumbai because mostly, Mussalmans stay only in 'their' areas, which would mean pockets in dirty localities owned by fellow Muslims. Yes, this is the same city which is forever in homage to the Khans, the troika of Aamir, Salman and Shah Rukh. But unfortunately, that's the extent of cosmopolitan Mumbai on far too many occasions. Remember a less popular Emraan Hashmi complaining of being refused an apartment by virtue of his faith.
I feel nauseous when I am told these are exceptions to the norm for this is the city of Manto from where he gave us his best work. Manto wrote about the colourful brothels in the city while staying in the famous Arab Gully in Byculla (a Muslim-dominated suburb). He wrote from Lahore "I am a walking, talking Bombay. Wherever I happen to be, that is where I will make a world of my own". But the same Manto who wrote his seminal work in then Bombay had to be saved by actor Ashok Kumar with whom he was riding in a car during post-partition riots in the city.
Yes, this was a city of the liberals, a city where Muslim actors like Dilip Kumar, Madhubala, Meena Kumari, Mehmood, Johny Walker were revered with realms written about their iconic status. Who made Bandra and Andheri posh suburbs to live in.
The same suburbs where you can easily identify the pockets inhabited by Catholics and Muslims. And for those who are disappointed, my earlier defense of this city's cosmopolitan character was shredded naked during the Mumbai riots, when the two main communities sought blood. Urban, classy Mumbai ends somewhere near Byculla, and the less-educated perceived-as-crass Mumbai is represented by pockets like Nagpada and Mohammed Ali Road, where liberal and fashionable Mumbaikars make a trip during Ramzan to eat that lavish spread awaiting them . That is when every non-Muslim in the city flaunts that Muslim friend who will provide a tour of the Ramzaan iftaar spread of firni and bheja fry and dal ghee at Mohammed Ali road . The same locality where my friend from Peddar Road has been asked not to venture into unless it's very urgent and she is accompanied by a driver.
This is a city where most non-Muslims would get goosebumps while watching Naseeruddin Shah perform at Prithvi Theatre and lose no time in outraging over his 'friendship with Pakistan' remark.
The unfortunate news for my friends who appear naive about this ugly face of the glamorous Mumbai is that much as we may pretend otherwise, Mumbai is as guilty as far less modern parts of the country when it comes to the 'us' and 'them' demarcation. We have as a city accepted it, though we rarely acknowledge it. I did too, when, after the Mumbai riots, my family moved from the 'cosmopolitan' Sahar Colony in Andheri East to Deonar, another Muslim suburb. This was not very long ago.
There are a thousand Misbah Qadri cases that take place in this metropolitan city, only many like me, do not have the time , energy and zeal to fight it. And for this, we are all complicit.
(Rana Ayyub is an award-winning investigative journalist and political writer. She is working on a book on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which will be published later this year.)Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.