Mumbai: Early this month, when the Panvel Municipal Corporation demolished unauthorised structures on a plot claimed by the local Jewish community as a religious site, it marked the first major breakthrough in the efforts of the Jewish Heritage Trust (JHT) to free the community’s sacred properties from encroachers.
Three-Year Legal Battle Yields Results
The group, formed by Jewish lawyers in 2023, spent nearly three years in litigation, secured an order from the Bombay High Court, and issued a contempt notice before the encroachments were removed from one of the three disputed plots in Panvel, including the ‘Israel Tank’, which was used for religious rituals.
The Panvel plots are among dozens of Jewish sites across the country that have allegedly been illegally occupied or converted to other uses as the community’s numbers decline due to migration to Israel. Maxcin Moses- Saharia, a lawyer and member of the JHT, said the organisation has documented 114 Jewish graveyards that have been encroached upon. These include cemeteries in Mount Abu and Jabalpur that are now reportedly being used for burials by other communities. JHT also claims that many of the country’s 68 synagogues have been destroyed, lost, or converted to other purposes.
'Real Success Will Come When Government Fully Supports Us'
“The Panvel authorities removed the encroachments after we fought a long legal battle. We do not look at it as a success; the real success will be when the government fully supports us. Why should we have to get everything done through the courts?” asked Moses-Saharia.
JHT said poor preservation of land records by government agencies, fraudulent modification of land use records, and the destruction of structural evidence have made it difficult to recover lost properties. According to the group, the Panvel plots were gifts from the Marathas — Jews were associated with the Maratha navy — through a Marwari merchant.
Waqf Properties and Dargahs Encroaching on Jewish Land
Jewish graveyards are often marked simply as ‘cemeteries’ in official records, making the land vulnerable to claims by other communities. One of the Panvel plots now houses Waqf properties, while dargahs have reportedly been built within a Jewish graveyard in Alibaug, once a prominent centre of the Indian Jewish community.
“It is written in the Constitution that every religious group is free to worship. In reality, the government acts only when problems are brought to its attention. At the ground level, that is not the case,” said Moses-Saharia.
JHT’s Mission: Legal Assistance and Heritage Protection
Raymond Gadkar, lawyer and chief trustee of the JHT, said the organisation provides legal assistance and compliance support in efforts to reclaim Jewish properties. “We identify the public trusts that owned these properties and follow up with government departments such as the Charity Commissioner. Our aim is to ensure that India’s Jewish heritage is protected,” said Gadkar.
The group is now focusing on encroached cemeteries and other properties in Ajmer, Igatpuri, Ahmedabad, and Nashik. JHT recently met lawyer Hari Shankar Jain, who is involved in the Gyanvapi Mosque dispute, for guidance on reclaiming lost Jewish sites.
The group’s work has also drawn appreciation from the international Jewish diaspora. In a social media post, Yehuda Shashonker, speaker and secretary of the National Union for Indian Expatriates in Israel, praised the efforts of lawyers Gadkar and Moses.
“Their work is priceless and the community owes a great deal to this team, which works inclusively and largely in the spirit of volunteerism. All this is being done so that future generations can know and visit the places where our community maintained an exemplary way of life. We can now say with great satisfaction that we are beginning to reap the fruits of our efforts towards conserving orphanages and heritage sites in Mumbai belonging to our community,” the organisation said.
Your voice matters. If you have a community story, issue, or inspiring local experience to share, send it to community@fpj.co.in and be a part of the conversation.
To get details on exclusive and budget-friendly property deals in Mumbai & surrounding regions, do visit: https://budgetproperties.in/
