By Faisal Fareed, TwoCircles.net,
Lucknow: For over a decade now a group of senior citizens from Sector M in Aashiana locality on Kanpur Road in Lucknow has been fighting for the establishment of a community centre in their neighborhood. There has been hardly any department concerned left, which the 200-odd families of the area, haven’t approached to get the centre.
In 2001, as evident from the documents available with one of the senior citizens MA Khan, 75, Ansal Housing group earmarked some plots for constructing community centres for all the religions next to each other. The land was offered at subsidized rates.
A Q Hashmi
Like Hindu, Sikh and Christian resident groups, Khan who was then the president of the local citizen group of Muslim community also applied for the land. Today after 10-odd years, a gurudwara, a temple and church have come up in the area. But ailing Khan, who recently returned from Kuwait, is still waiting for a mosque promised to them then.
“I have to travel for at least 4 km to offer Friday prayers at the mosque in Bangla Bazaar. They cheated my neighbors and me. But I still hope my dream would be fulfilled soon,” said Khan.
What went against the Muslim community is still unclear. In 2001 when the plots were offered at subsidized rates, Khan had submitted Rs. 50,000 as token money through a cheque. In September 2001, the Ansal Housing informed the citizens group that due to unavoidable circumstances the land could not be allotted for a community centre for Muslims.
The actual battle started from here. “There is no department left that we did not approach, but all in vain. Everybody kept on passing the buck,” said AA Siddiqui, the current president of Mansoravar Muslim Welfare Society, who has been pleading the case along with AQ Hashmi.
Finally, the residents knocked the doors of UP State Minority Commission. After the commission’s intervention, the builder company Ansal Housing wrote to the Lucknow Development Authority that the plot has been earmarked adjacent to the Gurudwara. This, however, did not convince the residents following which they were given a new plot a few blocks away for the same purpose.
Now this plot has also been rejected by the residents because the company wants the current rates for the land. “Why would we give the current rates? What is our fault? They want us to give Rs 5,000 per square metre while it was given at Rs 500-1,500 per square metre to other communities,” said Hashmi.
Another hearing of the case in the commission is slated on July 12. RS Pandey, chief resident manager, Ansal Housing Aashiana, said, “We have to follow company rules. We can’t give them the land at older prices. As for the reasons for refusing the allotment of land in 2001 when the project was floated, I can’t comment.”