MUMBAI VIOLENCE – WHO ARE TO BLAME?

After nearly a week-long violence Assam has returned to normality. With situation turning peaceful those who bore the brunt of violence, those who tried their utmost to bring the situation under control, the State govt as well as Central govt are heaving a sigh of relief. All are happy and peaceful once again.

Now that annoyed at the killing of Muslims in Assam and those who had to flee to refugee camps numbering about 400000, the repercussions surfaced in Mumbai yesterday in which two Muslim youths were reportedly killed, a number of persons including those entrusted with the duty of maintaining peace and normalcy and a number of media personalities suffered injuries, 30 police men grievously injured in the violence which spread across Mumbai bringing it into a standstill.

Raza Academy – a Muslim organization in association with two other Muslim organizations assembled at Azad Maidan to protest against the atrocities perpetrated against the members of their community, unexpectedly turned violent and wreaked havoc along the streets of Mumbai forcing the business establishments, educational institutions, offices to down the shutters. The traffic came to a standstill for hours as a consequence of which commuters had a hard time reaching their homes.

Unfortunately, the ire of the rioters was mainly turned against the media persons especially cameramen who reached the site to perform their duties and the cameras of many media men were snatched from their hands and destroyed besides manhandling them alleging that while Assam was in turmoil media men reportedly kept away from covering the ‘dastardly deeds’ committed on Muslims thereby adopting a partisan stand in favour of Bodos. Their contention was that media men collectively took the sides of Bodos singling out the Muslim brethren.

The Raza Academy activists – an organization founded exclusively for the welfare and culture of Muslim community came to know about horrendous experiences of Muslim community in Assam from the social networks which reportedly displayed the heart-breaking visuals which boiled the blood of a section of Muslims across Mumbai.

Vehicles numbering about hundred including two OB vans were set ablaze by the ‘miscreants’- Raza Academy activists and its two associate organizations stoutly deny their involvement in the violence which held Mumbai to ransom for hours and squarely blame the anti-social elements for the dark deeds committed.

It was after a prolonged period that Mumbai had to reel under the violent incidents. Even though more than half a dozen terror attacks were perpetrated by various terrorist groups – a few horrendous and blood chilling in which hundreds lost their lives and as many were maimed and a few incidents of lesser magnitude – Mumbai residents kept their cool and didn’t come out with vengeance against any particular community. Mumbai resiliently came back to normality, it was business as usual each time. You might be recalling with horror, the serial bomb explosions which claimed countless numbers of victims in the peak hours of evening two or three years ago. The so-called hard-core elements among the Hindus or Muslims did nothing to inflame the communal passions. To be precise after the 1992-1993 violent incidents in which more than hundreds lost their lives, no such further incidents happened even though the economic nerve centre, the financial capital of India came under vicious terror-attacks including the 26/11 terror attacks committed by Lashkar-E-Taiba militants resulting in the gruesome murder of 166 innocents and hundreds and hundreds of Mumbaikars maimed for life, the terrorists held the city hostage for more than 30 hours.

Now that without any provocation a motley crowd all of a sudden upset the apple-cart shocking every innocent ‘Mumbaikar’. The violence was not at all anticipated by the city-dwellers and when it happened, they were literally shocked and crest-fallen.

Of-late it is reported that 20 people have been held charging them with theft and molestation of women.

Prithvi Raj Chavan, Chief Minister of Maharashtra who was away in Yavatmal returned to Mumbai on hearing about the violence spreading across Mumbai to issue necessary instructions to the law and order machinery to bring the situation under control at the earliest. Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde too flew into Mumbai to assess the situation and to appeal for maintaining a calm and peaceful atmosphere. Arup Patnaik, Mumbai Police Commissioner has already taken control under whom the law and order mechanism is expected to keep a close vigil 24X7.