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As a fall-out of the demolition of the Babri Masjid in December 1992, the riots
that shook Mumbai were unprecedented in their sweep and intensity. Within a few
months of the riots the Indian Peoples' Human Rights Tribunal and several other
concerned citizens' groups brought out investigative reports that exposed that
these riots which were like pogroms against Muslims, were engineered by Hindu
chauvinistic parties like BJP and Shiv Sena and were not spontaneous but
planned. They had estimated that about 1500 people were killed and properties
worth over a hundred crores destroyed. They also exposed the communal bias of
the police, their excessive firings on Muslims and brutality against them and
their open connivance with the aggressive Hindu mobs. Further, they indicted the
State Government led by Sudhakarrao Naik for colluding with the Hindu chauvinist
parties and allowing the riots to carry on.
FINDINGS OF THE COMMISS ION
Now the report of the official inquiry into the riots, the Srikrishna Commission
is public. The Commission has reached, essentially the same conclusions as the
earlier investigations. The Commission has sharply indicted the Shiv Sena for
planning and leading the January'93 phase of the riots, held that the Shiv Sena
and BJP had a role in the December phase of the riots as well, with their
aggressive and provocative celebration of the demolition of the Masjid; it has
criticised the police for their "in-built bias" against Muslims and excessive
brutality against them in specific incidents; and criticized the State
Government for ineffective handling of such a grim situation. The Commission has
held that the aggressive propaganda buildup, especially since July 1992, of the
Ramjanmabhoomi campaign, Advani's Rath Yatra, the Ram Paduka processions,
inciting speeches etc, generated communal tension. The Commission has also held
that in reaction to the Hindutva campaign some Muslim fundamentalist
organisations propagated that their religion is in danger, which added to the
communal tension. The actual demolition of the Babri Masjid, watched widely on
TV, created a sense of resentment and anger among Muslims. The Commission has
criticised the police for being insensitive to the sentiments of the Muslims in
this situation and mishandling the situation from December 7, when they came out
in large numbers, to protest against the demolition. But the Commission did not
agree with the unofficial investigations that in December 92, the police
deliberately targeted at the Muslims with an aim to kill.
Official Commission reports are rarely so categorical in fixing responsibility
and in criticizing ruling class politicians and the Government. The Misra
Commission report into the massacres of Sikhs in Delhi in 1984 is in contrast to
this report. It was a complete whitewash of the role-played by Congress
politicians and their hoodlums and the Rajiv Gandhi Government in the massacres
and a cover-up of the connivance of the police in the killings.
As expected the Shiv Sena-BJP Govt in Mabarashtra tried to scuttle first the
Commission and then its report. It suddenly disbanded the Commission on January
23,1996, hut was forced to revive it after six months. Then after the Commission
submitted its report in February 1998, it found excuse after excuse not to table
it before the Assembly. It was finally forced to place the report before the
Assembly on August 6 under pressure from a public interest case and public
demand. Then it printed such few copies of the report that ~ would know the
actual contents of the report. The Shiv Sena-BJP Govt rejected the report
outright, and the fascist Home Minister L.K.Advani, the main architect of the
Ramjanmabhoomi campaign, defended the State Govt's decision. But, the
Commission's findings have officially exploded the myths and lies circulated by
the Shiv Sena (SS), BJP and its allies on the origin of the riots to justify the
brutal attacks on Muslims.
MYTHS/LIES OFFICIALLY EXPOSED
The first lie is that the ISI was smuggling large quantities of firearms like
AKs into Mumbai and storing them in mosques, to be used in attacks on Hindus and
the police. This was widely propagated in order to provoke Hindus to attack
Muslims. The Commission has proved that this was a total lie and found no
evidence of an ISI plot or conspiracy behind the riots and no smuggled arms or
explosives were recovered during the riots. Police officers have admitted in
their depositions that even in combing operations no arms were found. In fact in
the whole period of the riots a total of 14 firearms were seized, 8 from Hindus
and 6 from Muslims!! Two foreign made weapons which were seized were a Smith and
Wesson revolver and an Astra pistol. They were seized by the army from the then
Shiv Sena MLA Madhukar Sarpotdar and his associates at the height of the riots.
The SS and BJP kept on publicising reports of private firings against Hindus to
support this lie which when investigated, as the cross-examination of police
officers proved, in most cases happened to be false.
The other myth repeated ad nauseum, and used to justify Sena's theory of
"retaliation" was that it was the stabbing of two mathadi Hindu workers and the
Radhabai chawl arson case in which 6 members of one Hindu family lost their
lives, in the first week of January, that led to anger among Hindus, due to
which they retaliated. This has been specifically rejected by the Commission. It
states that even after December 15, attacks on Muslims and their properties
indifferent parts of the city continued, stabbings by professional criminals in
which mostly Hindus were victims continued, the Marathi newspapers Saamna
and Navakal kept inciting Hindu passions with false and exaggerated
reporting, rumour-mongering, (an art perfected by the Hindu chauvinists) reached
its peak in this period, and Maha-artis were started on the roads in which
hundreds of Hindus were mobilised and inciting speeches given. All this build-up
before these two incidents only proves that they were not the "flashpoint" for
the riots to restart. The murder of the mathadi workers on January 5th, at that
time by an unknown assailant, was given a communal twist by the local SS Pramukh.
Radhabai Chawl, located in Jogeshwari, was set on fire on the night of January
7. But three days earlier, on January 4th itself the 55 MLA Gajanan Kirtikar had
taken a mob of 4000 to the Jogeshwari police station. The morcha damaged Chacha
nagar masjid and looted Muslims' shops. On January 5th, Muslims huts in MP Mill
compound, Tardeo had been set on fire. Inspite of these glaring facts even
senior police officers repeated this myth before the commission.
ROLE OF SHIV SENA
The first procession on 6th Dec. was a victory rally organised by the 55 in
Dharavi area. During the rally stones were thrown at the namaazis in Anjuman
Kadaria mosques and extremely provocative slogans were given. On December 6, the
SS and BJP had organised 'Ghantanaads' — bells were rung to coincide with the
karseva in Ayodhya — in every locality. Towards the end of December they began
Maha-artis which were publicised in Saamna; they wrote slogans and
instructions on blackboards at their Shakhas and public places inciting Hindus
to attack; the Shakhas collected voters' lists to identify Muslim residents and
surveyed houses (eg. in Abhyudayanagar and Prateekshanagar) which were later
systematically attacked and looted. 55 leaders were leading the mobs that went
on the rampage. The Commission concludes, "from 8th January atleast there is no
doubt that the Shiv Sena and Shiv Sainiks took the lead in organising attacks on
Muslims and their properties under the guidance of several leaders of the SS
from the level of the Shakha Pramukh to Shiv Sena Pramukh, Bal Thackeray who,
like a veteran General, commanded his loyal Shiv Sainiks to retaliate by
organised attacks against Muslim."
Thackeray openly defended the role of the SS in the demolition of the Masjid and
he wrote venomously. On December 8th, Saamnas edit says, "Muslims must
draw lessons from the demolition. Otherwise, they will meet the same fate as the
Babri domes……”
According to him, "in this war, we and our Saamna fought like men.." (Jan
23)
He exhorted the police, "Police - your weapons are meant to kill traitors.
These leaders and officers telling you not to do so are bigger traitors than
those living in Behrampada. Obeying anti-national orders is also an
anti-national act. The police must think – should guns be trained on traitors or
innocent people?" (Jan 5)
How Bal Thackeray directed the riots was proved by the evidence of a journalist,
Yuvraj Mohite, who gave an eye witness account before the Commission. Mohite, a
journalist of a Marathi newspaper, Mahanagar, accompanied the Mayor of Mumbai,
Chandrakant Handore, to Bal Thackeray's house on January 8th night, to get his
signature on a memorandum calling for peace. There they heard Thackeray
directing Shakhapramukhs and others on the phone, on whom to attack and how…..”
give tit for tat... not a single 'landya' (deregatory marathi term, meaning
circumscribed muslims) should survive to give oral evidence……”, "catch hold of
AA, Khan anywhere and send him to Allah's home" etc etc. He not only told
Handore he would not sign the memorandum but made his determination to eliminate
"landyas" clear, "I am giving orders to that effect," he said. They also
witnessed him giving instructions to Madhukar Sarpotdar (presently MP) and MLA
Ramesh More.
Handore was too scared to act on what he saw. Mohite's editor telephoned the
Home Minister Babanrao Pachpute and informed him about Thackeray. But the Govt
took no action against Thackeray, and from the Chief Minister to the Police
commissioner all shielded Thackeray before the Commission. A few cases filed
against Thackeray for inciting communal tensions were also withdrawn by ihe SS-BJP
Govt.
ROLE OF THE POLICE
Police officer after officer initially stated that the Maha-artis were purely
religious affairs and did not lead to any riots. They gave permission for them
and even diverted traffic for them. They had to be confronted with evidence from
areas under their jurisdiction to make them admit that crowds returning from the
Maha-artis often attacked Muslims, and many riots were in the vicinity of the
Artis. In deposition after deposition the police officers were unable to justify
their actions or inactions during the buildup to the riots and in the riots.
They turned a blind eye to the inciting propaganda; they were abusive to Muslims
and dismissed their complaints; they arrested Muslims, but often did not arrest
Hindus inspite of being identified; and cases in which Muslims were victims were
closed as (A summary) "true but undetected". Worse, they fired unnecessarily and
specifically at Muslims and covered up records of Hindu mobs looting and
burning. Many serious incidents of police brutality have been given, like the
Suleiman Bakery shooting, led by then Jt CP Ramdeo Tyagi and his commandos in
which nine were killed; the Hila Masjid killing etc. Some constables are
identified while participating in the riots. But why blame only subordinates
when the pro-Hindu bias began at the very top. So you have Dy. Commissioner
K.Bishnoi asserting before the Commission that he did not perceive any role of
the SS in the riots, even after admitting that he knew of a secret meeting in
his area by the SS, held for the purpose of teaching Muslims a lesson. Tyagi
joined SS after retirement.
The then Commissioner of Police, Vasant Bapat, revealed himself as the most
biased and an active agent of the Hindutva politicians. Apparently, he could not
perceive any role of the 55 or similar organisation in the riots. Even after
being confronted with facts, he had the gall to say that there was no material
on record to show involvement of the SS! Yet he did not need concrete evidence
to blame ISI for the riots in his written deposition.
Though he was Jt Director of IB at that time (1990), he asserted that Advani's
Rath Yatra was not the cause of any riots enroute! He saw to it that no action
was taken against SS-BJP leaders even when evidence of their active
participation in the riots was available. Thus Sarpotdar went scot free, BJP MP
Ram Naik (presently Central Minister) was allowed free movement inspite of
having led a violent morcha on January 9 and Thackeray remains untainted.
Communalisation of the top police bureaucracy needs no comment. Their
ruthlessness too is blatant. Bapat did not favour modern methods of riot control
like use of rubber bullets, water canons, which are now being used in many parts
of the world.
ROLE OF THE CONGRESS
The Commission has been mild in its criticism of the then Congress Govt, terming
it as "effete political leadership" which was prone to vacillation. But the
deposition of the then Chief Minister Sudhakarrao Naik before the Commission
clearly reveals his pro-Sena leanings. He did not merely dilly-daily over
whether to give the Army operational duties. In his deposition Sudhakarrao Naik
claimed that he had no knowledge of the SS being involved in communal violence!
In the context of these riots he said that it was some citizens' delegation that
met him that complained to him about Bal Thackeray's role in the riots. This was
the statement of the Chief Minister of the State of Maharashtra with the entire
administrative resources of the State at his command. The SS from its very birth
has whipped up hate campaigns, first against 'Madrasis', then against Buddhists
and now against Muslims. In vidarbha, the area from which Naik hails and
neighbouring Marathawada, SS was openly involved in fomenting riots against
Dalits. Sudhakar Naik as CM took the political decision to allow Maha-artis, not
to arrest Bal Thackeray, not to use TADA against hindus arrested during the
riots. (TADA was only invoked against the accused of the Radhabai Chawl case,
all of whom were Muslims). His delay in using the Army was due to his rivalry
with Sharad Pawarr, lest the Defence Minister takes the credit. All this and
more shows that he connived and colluded with the fascist hindutva forces during
the riots. This very same Sudhakar Naik, when he was cold-shouldered by the
Congress leadership last year tried to join the Shiv Sena. The fact is that the
Congress, both at the State level and the Central level must share the
responsibility for the Mumbai riots. Can we forget that the birth of the Shiv
Sena is linked to faction fighting in the Congress in the 1960s; or that its
revival in the 1980s was also linked to faction fighting in the Congress. Sharad
Pawar deposed before the Commission as a very concerned and secular politician,
but it was Pawar himself, who as CM of Maharashtra covertly encouraged the SS to
grow by allowing the vandalism of SS goons, and himself had close links with Bal
Thackeray.
THE BOMB BLASTS AND MUSLIMS
SS
Chief Minister Manohar Joshi has accused the Commission for being anti-hindu,
pro-Muslim. But on the question of the circumstances and immediate cause of the
bomb blasts and its links with the riots, Justice Srikrishna merely repeats what
the Shiv Sena and the police have maintained all along. Basing himself on the
material filed in the bomb blast cases by the police, Justice Srikrishna
concludes that the bomb blasts were the handiwork of anti national elements
like smuggler Dawood and Tiger Memon aided and abetted by the ISI, who utilised
the anger and frustrations among Muslims as a result of the riots, to instigate
them, train them and implement the serial bombings in March 1993. But a
political analysis discloses that it was not the Muslims who gained anything
from the blasts, but it was the Hindutva forces which gained from the serial
blasts. The SS-BJP came to power in Maharashtra as an aftermath to these bomb
blasts. Besides, the smuggler Dawood is a mercenary whose name has been
connected with a range of politicians, extending from Sharad Pawar to Chandra
Swami to Bal Thackeray and Romesh Sharma. Hence it seems more probable that the
bomb blasts were the devious plan of a section of the Hindutva forces, who
deliberately utilised misguided, frustrated Muslims to execute it.
RESPONSE TO THE REPORT
All the political parties have responded to the report with an eye on the
Assembly elections due next year. The Congress welcomed the report and initially
demanded the arrest of Bal Thackeray, but later retracted to demanding "stern
action against the guilty". After saying this it fell silent. It wants to win
back the Muslim votes, but does not want to alienate Hindus. The SS and BJP,
together in Govt, rejected the report. While the SS has openly defended its
retaliation theory and its hindutva platform, the BJP has been completely
silent. Obviously the BJP prefers to let the entire blame for the riots fall on
the SS, and thus seeks to increase its share of the Hindu vote at the expense of
the SS. The Samajwadi Parry is actively campaigning for the punishment of the
guilty. The Samsjwadi Party is based exclusively among Muslims in Mumbai. In
order to consolidate its vote base it is also, like the Congress in the past,
relying on opportunist, fundamentalist forces and even some criminal elements
among the Muslims. Muslims must learn that such forces are in no way interested
in the welfare and improvement of the community but only in retaining their vote
bank. Unless Muslims break out of the hold of their fundamentalist, discredited
leaders, organise themselves to fight the hindutva forces (not ordinary hindus),
and ally with all democratic and revolutionary forces, they cannot get justice
and nor can the Hindutva forces be combated.
A section of the liberal secular minded individuals and organisations are
satisfied with the indictment by the Commission, and are not pressing for
punishment of the guilty for fear of reopening wounds and again creating
communal tensions. But history has shown that fascism could Dot be defeated
by appeasing the fascists or forgiving them for their crimes. They had to be
fought in the streets and made to pay for their crimes.
The demand that those accused of fomenting, participating and conniving in the
riots including, Bal Thackeray, should be tried, is a democratic demand, it is a
demand for justice. After all, over 2 thousand people, mostly innocent muslims,
particularly women and children, have been butchered by the Shiv Sena-police
combine and it is these very murderers who' today occupy the-corridors of power.
While the number of those killed in just two months is more than those
eliminated by the CPI (ML) PW) have killed in a decade (that too, mostly
criminals, in and out of uniform), yet the establishment portray the latter as
"terrorists" and the former as "respectable gentlemen" ! What justice can be
expected from this system? None. Justice cannot be obtained by relying on
political parties who are merely utilising the Report for election strategy. A
strong mass movement based on a democratic platform alone can ensure justice.
Hindu communalism in India is a weapon in the hands of a rapacious, desperate
ruling class that seeks to divide the people and suppress them. Hindu fascist
forces have to be combated, but it is the alliance of the organised masses and
oppressed minorities in alliance together that can effectively fight them and
get justice for the Muslims.
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