CITY OF DREAMS OR NIGHTMARES?

CITY OF
DREAMS OR
NIGHTMARES?


Mumbai, the so-called city of
dreams, had a number of
terror attacks and bomb
blasts in the past couple of decades, but
communal violence had not reared its
ugly head during this period. Considering
that the nation’s commercial and entertainment
capital has been slowly but
surely turning into a city of nightmares,
or sin city if you like, it was time for
some communal violence to take its
turn. And it did.
In wake of the recent attacks on Muslims
in Assam and Myanmar, some leaders
from the city’s Muslim community
called a gathering at the Azad Maidan,
near the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus
(CST), Mumbai’s largest railway station,
and delivered speeches expressing their
concern over the injustices meted out to
their brethren within the country as well
as outside. When speeches of such kinds
are made, there is a very thin line between
being provocative and raising a
voice. What was the exact nature of
those speeches is anybody’s guess, but
the speakers of the gathering did express
concerns over the media’s coverage (or
rather the lack of it) of incidents that involved
persecution of the Muslim communities.
Soon thereafter, though, a group of
youths started attacking some journalists
and police personnel and damaged
public and private vehicles. Taking the
police and organisers by surprise, the attacks
quickly spread, engulfing the
media, police, and even some participants
in the procession, vehicles and
media vans.
Many buses and police vans were
damaged. Private vehicles were not
spared either, so what were the chances
that some of vans of private TV channels
nearby would be spared? Slim to none.
The vans were set on fire. The police was
bound to react, and at the end of the
day, the violent incident left two dead
and scores injured. Many, including
cops, were rushed to the hospital, with
some sustaining serious injuries, and
others escaping with a few bruises.
Close to 50 police personnel were reported
to be wounded in the incident.
One thing became quite clear. The
Muslim community in the city is much
more agitated than it was during the
communal violence that happened in
the early nineties. The gathering’s reaction
to police action amply showed that.
The police say that the violence was premeditated
because the necessary gear
for a full-blown violent protest was all

present on site – although everything
was in disguise.
There is a lot of tension within the
community in the city and thereby in
the cities air, not least aggravated by the
recent clashes between the Bodo tribals
and Muslims in Assam – the main one
being on July 20, in which the Muslims
were on the receiving end.
However, most Mumbai residents already
well knew that tensions were simmering
within the Muslim community
ever since the beginning of Ramadhan.
There had been underground campaigning,
with lots of provocative messages
sent out –particularly to the
Muslim community – through SMSes,
bulk mails, etc. Just a few years ago, in
the later half of the noughties, the Muslim
community in the city had protested
against a Danish daily that had featured
a picture of Prophet Mohammad. Fortunately,
the protests did not escalate into
something more sinister like they did
this time around.
The news about the persecution of
the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar that
was also fresh in the collective conscience
of Muslims in Mumbai, as it
must be the case with numerous Muslim
communities around the world.
Besides, the likelihood of the Muslim
community becoming an alienated lot
might have increased after their disillusionment
with the Congress party at the
centre, just like most of the nation.
Everything in the city seems to be in a
state of flux. Politically feuding cousins
– Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief
Raj Thackeray and Shiv Sena executive
president Uddhav Thackeray – seem to
be poised for something of a reunion.
Nobody would have probably expected
that to happen after Raj left Shiv Sena to
form his own party in the mid-2000s.
However, if the rumours are true, certain
factions of the Muslim community that
had gravitated towards Raj – purely due
to a phenomenon called your-enemy-ismy-
enemy – must be furious.
However, common sense suggests
that a reunion of the Thackeray cousins
is just a matter of time. They seem to
have a lot of common causes and common
enemies – more or less. Two seemingly
unrelated stories will point to the
correctness of this theory.
Recently, Uddhav Thackeray demanded
public hanging for Ajmal
Kasab, the only Pakistani terrorist
caught alive after the 26/11 Mumbai
strike that claimed 166 lives.
He also wanted to know why Afzal
Guru, a 2001 parliament attack convict
on death row, should not be hanged immediately.

"Why should enemies of the state be
shown any mercy or leniency," Thackeray
demanded here after the Supreme
Court upheld the death sentence
awarded to Kasab (More on this later in
the story).
Meanwhile, holding Bangladeshi infiltrators
responsible for the Aug 11 violence
in Mumbai, Raj Thackeray warned
that such incidents would not be tolerated.
He also sought the resignation of
Home Minister R.R. Patil and Mumbai
Police Commissioner Arup Patnaik for
failure to foresee and curb the violence,
which left two people killed, and 45 policemen
and many others, including
media persons, injured.
Addressing a public rally at Azad
Maidan after a five-km march, Thackeray
said that some of the participants
in the August 11 procession, organised
by Raza Academy and other Muslim organisations,
had the gall to attack the
policemen and media persons on duty.
Seeking to prove his point, Thackeray
flashed what he claimed was a green
coloured passport found from the venue
and purportedly belonging to a
Bangladeshi, and said that the Muslim
procession had many outsiders who
dared to attack police and media persons.
"This will not be tolerated and limits
cannot be crossed. Anybody who dares
to raise their eyes against Maharashtra,
we will not tolerate," Thackeray thundered.
He said it was surprising the police
and home department remained ignorant
of how well-prepared the Muslims
in teh Aug 11 procession had come with
iron rods, sticks and stones and demanded
that the home minister and city
police chief resign immediately.
"If they have an ounce of shame, they
should immediately quit," Thackeray
said to a widespread applause from the
gathering.
Reiterating that the MNS procession
and rally was not directed against any
religious groups or entity, Thackeray
said it was to express solidarity with the
ordinary Marathi policemen and policewomen
and the Mumbai media.
"There is no hidden agenda, as is
being speculated in some circles. Our
motives had been announced in advance
that it was to express solidarity
with the police, media and seek resignations
of Patil and Patnaik," he said.
Thackeray also demanded a probe
into Raza Academy's past record for
such processions and claimed there
were details of how they usually ended
in violence.
He targeted Samajwadi Party state
chief Abu Asim Azmi, and alleged that
Azmi could win elections from two assembly
constituencies simultaneously
as these had many Bangladeshis and
Pakistanis living there.
Thackeray also ridiculed the Republican
Party of India (RPI) and others for
not speaking out against the Aug 11 violence.
"Except demanding Indu Mills land,
what has (RPI chief ) Ramdas Athawale
done? Does he want to construct a bungalow
there?" he said sarcastically.