Ahmedabad, Oct 14: It was the day after Godhra. Moti Manor, Ahmedabad’s three-star hotel famed for its Mughlai cuisine, was in flames like many Muslim properties elsewhere in the city. Now, 20 months later, the hotel is all set to reopen. It will have a new name: Naika. And an all new Hindu cuisine, totally vegetarian and in sync with the changed times. Moti Manor’s irresistible Mughlai went up in flames with the old hotel. Salim Patel, Moti Manor’s owner — he also owns the 100-year-old Moti Mahal restaurant and was at the receiving end during the riots — says former mayor Himmatsinh Patel played a major role in helping him sell the hotel at Shahibaug to Mohan Agarwal and Pravin Jain.
And the new owners make no secret of what they plan to do. ‘‘Moti Manor will now be known as Naika and will serve only vegetarian cuisine. We won’t serve non-vegetarian. Otherwise, the hotel will always remain a soft target,’’ says Mohan Agarwal.
Denying he’s a partner in the new venture, Himmatsinh Patel says: ‘‘Salim is a close friend. I have just negotiated the deal for him.’’
Salim’s father, Abdullah Patel, and his youngest brother Naem were attacked by a rampaging mob on February 28, 2002 at their residence in Paldi. ‘‘I could see my hotel burning even as I was being told that my ailing father had been rushed to hospital,’’ recalls Salim who now plans to wrap up business in the city. He has already shifted his family to Mumbai.
Agarwal, who just bought Moti Manor, refuses to disclose the sale price: ‘‘We have spent over Rs 50 lakh only on reconstruction and many things have to be done all over again.’’
Admitting that the hotel will no longer serve the non-vegetarian cuisine it was famed for, Pravin Jain says ‘‘we are not inclined to take any risk’’ and will do business even if it does not translate into high profits.
‘‘We have heard that VHP activists are targeting non-vegetarian restaurants. After our experience, we are taking no chances,’’ says Salim, who’s helping the new owners set up the hotel.
Manubhai Barot, general secretary of Hotel Owner’s Association, says Moti Manor was ‘‘the worst-hit hotel during the communal riots and was targeted as it was run by a Muslim.’’ He says association records show that over 100 small restaurants and hotels in Ahmedabad district were set ablaze post-Godhra.
‘‘Some changed hands while some are being run by the original owners. Very few have received compensation,’’ he says.
Pegging the value of the hotel at around Rs 1 crore, he says: ‘‘The owner is still awaiting compensation.’’
Salim Patel has filed an affidavit with the Justice G T Nanavati and Justice K G Shah Inquiry Commission, which is probing the riots and has engaged an advocate in the city sessions court, seeking compensation for his ravaged hotel.
He and his brothers have come to an arrangement to run Moti Mahal, the restaurant they still own — each will visit Ahmedabad once a week for this purpose. ‘‘We have sold our house in Paldi and have no intention of settling down here,’’ says Salim who has lived a nightmare simply because he and his family belonged to a different faith.