Past And Present Of Violence In Mumbai
Book Review by Mahtab Alam
02 March, 2013
Countercurrents.org
Book: Riots and after in Mumbai: Chronicles of Truth and Reconciliation
Author: Meena Menon
Pages: XCII+267, Hard Bound,
First Edition: 2012, Price: 595
Publisher: SAGE Publications India, New Delhi
Last year marked twenty years of the demolition of Babri Masjid, an event which was followed by a series of large scale communal violence, clashes and riots in different parts of India, especially in Bombay (now Mumbai). The year also witnessed the natural death of Bal Thackeray, founder of the Shiv Sena and one of the key figures involved in the politics of hate and bigotry for more than four decades, leaving the city once again in fear created by his followers, for a few days. However, what started in December 1992 continued till January 1993. Not only that, while people were still trying to recover from the after-effects of the violence, on 12th March 1993, a series of bomb blasts rocked the city and led to comparisons between the two acts of violence unleashed by two ‘opposite’ communities, often ignoring the differentiation between the acts of individual and the community. What is important to note here is that the violence of December 92-January 93 in Mumbai, by all means, was the worst among all that had occurred in the city, ever since the first recorded communal violence in the year of 1893. Officially (according to Justice Srikrishna Commission Report) 900 people were killed in mob violence and firing by the police, 2,036 injured and thousands displaced from their homes, taking shelter in temporary relief camps that were mostly run by NGOs and individuals. The book under review, written by Meena Menon, who is a Mumbai based senior journalist, with considerable experiences of covering communal riots and violence for nearly three decades and currently deputy editor of The Hindu daily deals with the above subject.
Though started with the simple premise of ‘going back to the survivors and seeing how they had coped with their lives after the riots’, the writer goes much beyond her initial objectives and presents a meticulous and painstaking chronicle of the pasts and presents of communal violence and riots in the city, going backwards from 1992-93 to look at the history of violence between Hindus and Muslims in Bombay/Mumbai. For her research, the writer relies on archival materials, other official documents such as reports of various commissions, court judgments, case dairiesand available literature on the subject apart from a large number of interviews of survivors and other concerned parties, conducted between February 2007 and November 2009. Connecting the present with the past, in her preface, the author observes: “Today it is common to hear the word ‘ghetto’ and to think of Muslims as the ‘other’ and ‘terrorists’ ; in fact, many Muslims are denied jobs because of who they are; for them jobs are hard to come by and a sense of alienation is evident. The popular perception about Muslims is that ‘all Muslims are not terrorists but all terrorists are Muslims’. The situation has become worse after the Babri Masjid demolition and the riots in Mumbai in 1992-93—the worst it has possibly ever seen.” (p. xxi)
Further connecting her anecdotes and pointing-out the double standards of the ruling classes, she writes, “The riots were followed by the serial blasts in the city on 12 March 1993, which killed 257 people, injuring 713. Anger spilled out against Muslims, and many people told me (at that time I was a reporter with The Times of India, Mumbai) that Muslims were never victims of the riots; that they were in fact the aggressors and the blast proved that. The government appointed the Srikrishna Commission to investigate the riots, which came up with an extensive document that has been all but shelved, while the serial blast accused were arrested under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA), now repealed”. (p. xxi) Moreover, as Menon notes, “ After the riots there was a tendency in some sections of the media and even in the popular conscience that Muslims deserved the riots. They deserved to be treated badly, killed and burnt.” (p.xxxvii)
Divided into eight major chapters, along with a detailed introduction and a short appendix containing a list of cases registered against Bal Thackeray during 1992-93 and before, and some relevant sections of IPC and CrPC, the book ably demonstrates how the city developed over the years facing communal and political violence, riots, clashes and terrorist attacks every then and now. Discussing Bal Thackeray, his politics and his journey, in the introduction, Menon brings out interesting, important and lesser known facts about Thackeray‘s association. She writes, “The Sena which launched itself as a nativist organization to protect Marathi interests soon travelled on the path of Hindutva and built its popularity on the hatred of the others, in this case, south Indians, migrants and Muslims…The city which was a haven for migrants was sought to be shaken by the Shiv Sena which wanted a distinct Marathi identity enforced on it. For many in Mumbai, Thackeray was a demigod, a savior from the onslaught of migrants and job seekers and a real ‘Hinduhirdaysamrat’. However, before its anti- Muslim stand, Thackeray had associations with number of other parties and people. Bal Thackeray’s Sena supported the Praja Socialist party (PSP) in the municipal corporation election in Bombay in 1968, whose leading lights included Socialist leader Madhu Dandavate. Later, in 1973, the Sena teamed up with the Muslim League for the corporation election…In 1981, veteran Communist Party of India (CPI) leader S A Dange and a staunch critic of the Sena was a special invitee to a party meeting in Mumbai”. (p. xliii-iv) Menon also undercuts the much celebrated notion about Mumbai, its cosmopolitanism, when she notes that, “If you go closer though, you will find that the cosmopolitan image shattering—people are identified by their origin, caste, and class. Mumbai citizens do not observe niceties when it comes to people.” (p.3) The first chapter explains the rise, development of Shiv Sena and its decline in the recent times and concludes that the Sena has lost its appeal with its voters and lacks rapport with its workers. It is no longer seen as a party of the masses. (p. 21)
The next chapter of the book is one of most important chapters of the book as it chronicles the communal riots in Bombay city since 1873, a hundred and twenty years before the worst riots rocked the city. In this chapter, Menon meticulously examines all the riots that had occurred during pre-Independence era (1893-1945) and post-independence Mumbai, emphasizing that ‘Bombay or Mumbai was not trouble–free despite its seemingly cosmopolitan nature and the fact that it was the trading capital.” (p. 39) Before making concluding remarks about all the riots, ‘nothing is spontaneous about riots in this country or the events leading up to it,’ (p. 82) Menon observes, ‘clearly the Cow Protection Movement was a precursor into what would transform by the 1920s into a militant Hindu nationalism resulting in more violence over the years’. (p. 81) In subsequent chapters, based on the extensive field interviews, Menon tells us the heartbreaking stories of survivors, both Muslims and Hindus, sagas of their everyday lives, battles for justice and living a life of hope and despair. While calamities like floods bring both the communities together, however, they know how fragile the peace can be. And the memories of those riots are very fresh for those who lost their loved ones. (p. 94) Discussing the impacts of displacement, Menon observes, “Living in a ghetto, often not out of choice, in that sense, has narrowed their focus, restricted their aspirations, and created a longing of the life they once knew…They live up with a split image of the city—one that existed in the past, which now only exists in their imagery and reality of the present.” (p.122-23) And the biggest loss in these violence, after losing loved ones and trust over ‘another’ community, is the loss of livelihood. “Moving to a ghetto for safety reasons has also led to the community being further marginalized. Perceptions about Muslims have changed and often those in jobs face some kind of discrimination. Those who move to ghettos often feel this more than the others.” (p. 183)
What about justice, truth and reconciliation? The writer informs us, “For those affected by the riots, reconciliation has come without truth being acknowledged. Moreover, there is no attempt to understand the factors that drove the violence and redress those issues which are splintering communities.” (p. 231) Menon further informs, “There are some common threads that emerge from the various interviews—the lack of justice, the lingering sense of loss, alienation, and perceptions of what has happened to the city.” (p.232)This work of Meena Menon is one of the most valuable additions on the subject, dealing with the entire gamut of questions related to riots and after in Mumbai. For anyone interested in the past and present of violence in Bombay/Mumbai, it is a must read. Along with this, an earlier work by noted sociologist Dipankar Gupta, “Justice before Reconciliation: Negotiating a ‘New Normal’ in Post-riot Mumbai and Ahmadabad” (Routledge: 2011), would be a complementary reading on the subject.
(Mahtab Alam is a Delhi based civil rights activist and independent journalist. A slightly edited version of this review first appeared in the Book Review Journal, February-March 2013. Email: [email protected] )
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