Kashmiri Muslim artists denied housing in Indian city
Art collective from Kashmir barred from renting flat in Kanpur, reflecting deepening discrimination against Muslims in India’s urban spaces
NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — A group of young Kashmiri Muslim artists were denied accommodation in the northern Indian city of Kanpur after Hindu landlords allegedly refused to rent them a flat because of their religion — an episode that has reignited debate about rising Islamophobia in India’s cities.
The artists, who run an independent collective called Glance Kashmir, had travelled from Srinagar on October 22 to participate in a visual art exhibition showcasing Kashmiri culture and daily life. What began as a routine search for temporary accommodation soon turned into a humiliating ordeal marked by rejection and prejudice, according to their account on social media.
For two days, one of the artists searched across several neighbourhoods but was repeatedly turned away. In one instance, a local resident reportedly told him: “For Muslims and Ahirs [a lower-caste Hindu community], we won’t even show the plan of the house, let alone rent it.”
They eventually found a flat priced at 15,000 Indian rupees ($180) a month and paid an advance of 5,000 rupees ($60) to the landlady. But when she learned they were Muslims, she allegedly asked them to vacate immediately, returning the deposit. “So we left… tired, hungry, and heartbroken,” the group wrote.
Housing discrimination against Kashmiri Muslims has been widely documented across Indian cities including Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru, where landlords routinely refuse to rent to Muslims from Jammu and Kashmir.
Civil-rights groups say this exclusion has worsened under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government, especially since the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s limited autonomy in 2019, which deepened anti-Kashmiri sentiment nationwide.
Legal experts and human rights advocates describe such discrimination as a symptom of a broader societal shift — where prejudice against Muslims is no longer hidden but normalized.
Although the Glance Kashmir team went ahead with their exhibition, members said the incident left them emotionally scarred. “These pictures are not just pictures — they are emotions,” they wrote. “Each of them holds a story, but now our own story has become one of exclusion.”
The case has reignited public discussion on everyday Islamophobia in India’s urban spaces — a reflection of how political polarization, social stigma, and fear continue to define life for many Muslims across the country.
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