Published & Updated as on - 2010-02-26
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.
Source:Indian Realty News 26/2/10
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