The Vegetarian Bullies of Mumbai

Emraan Hashmi revealed the discrimination against Muslims, and now non-vegetarians are the new pariahs in this great cosmopolis.

It’s not just Muslims, as actor Emraan Hashmi showed from personal experience, who are denied flats in Mumbai’s housing societies. Even non-vegetarians have a tough time.

Nishant Devale, a Mumbai-based doctor, remembers responding to an advertisement about a flat for sale in Malabar Hill. The first question he was asked was, “Are you a vegetarian?” Dr Devale spoke the truth. He was not and, quite astonishingly for him, the negotiations abruptly stopped. He saw three more flats and each time he was told he was not eligible because of his food habits. “Invisible doors slammed shut on my face,” he says.

Ashok R Khamkar, proprietor of Khamkar Masalewale, a well-known store of ground spices, too, was denied a flat in Lalbaug in central Mumbai for the same reason. “I was ready to pay market prices, but they turned me away,” says Khamkar.

The communities at the forefront of enforcing the vegetarian writ are Jains and Marwaris, Mumbai’s traditionally industrial class. Vegetarian bullying can take many forms. Besides denying flats, it could be in the closing down of non-veg eateries. The classic example is of a 25-storeyed Jain housing society near a 100-year-old fish market in Parel. It pays the fishermen to keep the market closed during Paryushan Parva—a holy fortnight of fasting for Jains. Lately, there have been attempts to get the market relocated altogether. Says one fisherman, Parvati Pandurang Bodke, “These rich people want to shift this market. Where will we go? They have the money and politicians in their pockets. So far we have resisted, but how many years can we go on fighting?”

Housing societies say the smell of meat hurts the religious sentiments of vegetarians. JK Jain from Chembur even believes that non-vegetarians dirty the surroundings. “We are exhorting our housing society not to sell flats to people who eat meat,” he says.

About The Author

Haima Deshpande