MUMBAI: A viral video of a real estate agent claiming that only vegetarians are allowed to purchase flats in a posh upcoming high-rise in south Mumbai’s Tardeo area has sparked strong reactions.Some social media users described the development as a case of Mumbai’s cosmopolitan character giving way to “food apartheid”, alleging that housing societies are restricting people’s food choices.The agent, Bhavesh Kaware, who goes by the moniker “propertytransactionguru” on Instagram, posted the video on the platform, news agency PTI reporetd.In it, he said that the 2BHK flat in the building would be sold for Rs 6.5 crore, but only vegetarians would be allowed to buy it.“This is Mumbai of the Marathi people. It belongs to the Agari-Koli community and to the toiling, common people of Maharashtra,” said one of the social media users.“Who are you to decide what someone eats or doesn’t eat in Mumbai? Denying someone a home just because they eat fish, mutton, or chicken isn’t merely an arbitrary act of granting or withholding housing but shows overt social discrimination,” he said.“Will it now be decided whether someone who has eaten fish for generations in Mumbai gets a home or not based on what’s on their plate? Those who discriminate must be taught a lesson,” he said.There have been several much-publicised instances of such discrimination over the past few years, PTI reported.Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan had revealed that when he was looking for a house in 2012 after his marriage to Kareena Kapoor, he was turned away by several housing societies.In 2014, actor Emraan Hashmi said that a posh housing society had rejected his application.(With agency inputs)
