Bombay riots
1992-93 Bombay Riots | |
---|---|
Date | 6 December 1992 – 26 January 1993 |
Location | Bombay, India |
Casualties | |
Death(s) | 900 (estimate), 575 Muslims, 275 Hindus, 50 Others. |
The Bombay riots were a series of riots that took place in
.Shiv Sena, a Hindutva political party in Maharashtra, is said to have organised the riots.[4] A high-ranking member of the special branch later stated that the police were fully aware of the Shiv Sena's capabilities to commit acts of violence, and that they had incited hate against Muslims.[5]
Historian
Background
The Bombay riots can be considered a result of larger communal tensions throughout India. The
Overview of the riot
As determined by the government's Srikrishna Commission; the riots started as a result of communal tension prevailing in the city after the
The Report asserted that the communal passions of the Hindus were aroused to fever pitch by the inciting writings in print media, particularly Saamna and Navaakal which gave exaggerated accounts of the Mathadi murders and the Radhabai Chawl incident. From 8 January 1993, many riots occurred between Hindus led by the Shiv Sena and Muslims potentially funded by the Bombay underworld at that time. An estimated 575 Muslims and 275 Hindus were killed at the end of the riot. The communal violence and rioting triggered off by the burning at Dongri and Radhabhai Chawl, and the following retaliatory violence by Shiv Sena was hijacked by local criminal elements who potential opportunity to make quick gains. By the time the right wing Hindu organization Shiv Sena realised that enough had been done by way of "retaliation", the violence and rioting was beyond the control of its leaders who had to issue an appeal to put an end to it.[3]
Role of the Shiv Sena
The violence was widely reported as having been orchestrated by the Shiv Sena, a
Justice B.N. Srikrishna Commission
The report documented the active complicity of the
The report of the commission stated that the tolerant and secular foundations of the city were holding even if a little shakily. Justice Srikrishna indicted those he alleged as largely responsible for the second phase of the bloodshed and to some extent the first, the Shiv Sena.
The report was criticised as "politically motivated". For a while, its contents were a closely guarded secret and no copies were available. The Shiv Sena government rejected its recommendations. Since under the Commissions of Inquiry Act, an Inquiry is not a court of law (even if it conducts proceedings like a court of law) and the report of an inquiry is not binding on Governments, Srikrishna's recommendations cannot be directly enforced.
According to the commission report, the causes of these riots were listed as
- Class Conflict
- Economic Competition
- Decline of employment
- Population density
- Changing political discourse.
The immediate causes were listed as
- the demolition of Babri Masjid
- the aggravation of Muslim sentiments by the Hindus with their celebration rallies
- the insensitive and harsh approach of the police while handling the protesting mobs which initially were not violent.
Arrests, convictions and verdict
Only 3 convictions happened in the 1992-93 Bombay riots cases.[18] On 10 July 2008, a Mumbai court sentenced former Shiv Sena MP Madhukar Sarpotdar and two other party activists to a year's rigorous imprisonment in connection with the riots.[19][20] However, he was immediately granted bail.[21] He died on 20 February 2010 without serving his sentence.[22]
In popular culture
The riots are portrayed in several different films:
- They are the key plot in the 1995 film Hinduhusband, are separated from their children during the riots.
- The 2004 Hindi film Black Friday deals with the events leading to the riots and the aftermath which led to the 1993 Bombay bomb blasts, and related investigations, told through the different stories of the people involved – police, conspirators, victims, middlemen.
- The violence is also an instrumental part of the plot of the film Slumdog Millionaire. The protagonist, Jamal Malik's mother is among those killed in the riots, and he later remarks "If it wasn't for Rama and Allah, we'd still have a mother."[23]
- The event also appeared in 2010 film Striker, 2000 film Fiza and 2013 film Shahid.
- The Bombay Riots set the background for the popular Netflix TV Series Sacred Games, which began in 2018. The TV Series shows the rivalry of the protagonist, Ganesh Gaitonde's gang & Isa's gang amidst religious clashes.
See also
References
- ^ Engineer, Asghar Ali (7 May 2012). "The Bombay riots in historic context". The Hindu.
- ^ Punwani, Jyoti. "Why there's no noise about the Mumbai riots". Rediff.
- ^ a b c "Full Srikrishna report: Chapter 1". Sabrang Communications.
- ISBN 978-0520206427.
- ISBN 978-0691088402.
- ISBN 978-0691129334.
- ^ "Understanding the link between 1992-93 riots and the 1993 Bombay blasts". Firstpost. 6 August 2015.
- ^ ERCES Online Quarterly Review Archived 10 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine Religious Identity of the Perpetrators and Victims of Communal Violence in Post-Independence India
- JSTOR 4411376.
- ^ "Factors responsible for the growth of communalism". Hindustan Times. 29 January 2004. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
- ISBN 978-0520206427.
- ISBN 978-0691088402.
- ISBN 978-0691129334.
- ^ "Thackeray arrested, freed by court". The Hindu. 26 July 2000. Retrieved 7 April 2019.[dead link]
- ISBN 9781370452965.
- ISBN 978-0-375-40372-9.
- ISBN 978-0-19-007817-1.
- ^ Daniyal, Shoaib (27 July 2015). "Yakub Memon case: one chart that shows just how partisan India's criminal justice system can be". Scroll.in.
- ^ "Former Sena MP sentenced". The Hindu. 10 July 2008. Archived from the original on 2 August 2008. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
- ^ "Shiv Sena politician convicted over 1992 Mumbai riots". Reuters. 9 July 2008.
- ^ "Former Shiv Sena leader Sarpotdar convicted in Mumbai for inciting violence in 1992". ANI. 9 July 2008. Retrieved 16 February 2010.
- ^ "Sena leader Madhukar Sarpotdar dies". DNA. 20 February 2010. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
- ^ Arthur J Pais (9 September 2008). "Oscar buzz for Anil Kapoor-starrer". Rediff. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
Sources
- Dawood and ISI's role in riots, archived from the original on 16 July 2011
- 275 Hindus dead(32%)575 Muslims(67%) officially dead (45 unidentified), archived from the original on 11 April 2013
- Detailed Report
- Official Supreme Court of India Biography, archived from the original on 17 January 2006
- Justice B.N. Srikrishna, "Skinning a Cat", (2005) 8 SCC (Jour) 3 (a critique of judicial activism in India).
- Justice B.N. Srikrishna, "Maxwell versus Mimamsa", (2004) 6 SCC (Jour) 49 (a critique of Indian and Western interpretative techniques).
- Praveen Swami A welter of evidence: How Thackeray and Co. figure in the Srikrishna Commission Report, archived from the original on 24 November 2002
{{citation}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) (examining the Justice Srikrishna Commission's indictment of Bal Thackeray and the Shiv Sena). - Draupadi Rohera (16 August 1998), "The sacred space of Justice Srikrishna", Sunday Times (discussing Justice Srikrishna's Hindu beliefs and his work with the commission).
- Suketu Mehta (2004), "Maximum City: Bombay lost and found", Wall Street Journal