BOMBAY: It is the morning after in many of the Muslim-dominated pockets in Bombay but for the residents the darkness of the previous day’s happenings still envelopes them. A new dawn has certainly not blunted the strong anti-Congress feelings that are running through these areas in the aftermath of the Ayodhya affair. Contrary to popular perception the violent events are not the outcome of a direct communal conflict. This is not just a straight Hindu-Muslim riot although it has increasingly assumed such a dimension It is also a serious law and order problem in which the instruments of the state be it the Congress government or the police have become the targets of minority community resentment. It is this sullen anger which is now being exploited by some to give the situation a communal color.
Move through any of the curfew hit Muslim areas and it is the insecurity and the extent of indignation towards the political class and Prime Minister P.V Narasimha Rao in particular that is most striking. It even seems that the animus towards the BJP is nothing compared to the sense of betrayal felt when discussing Rao. As Azim Memon a trader in the Bhendi Bazaar area puts it “We had come to expect something like this from the BJP but we did not ever believe that the Center would just stand by and watch the mosque being demolished.”
The anger against the Congress is being manifested in various ways.
In the Govandi-Deonar areas in the eastern suburbs where there is a large army presence the slumdwellers mainly indigent Muslims from U.P. and Bihar are directing their against the local MLA and housing minister Javed Khan In the last few years Khan has emerged as the most important leader in the area Yet some of his constituents do not even want him to enter the place now. “All politicians are selfish and are never there when you really need them” says one cynical voice.
At various places posters have come up accusing Rao of have “murdered” secularism.
Resentment against the police is equally omnipresent. In Bainganwadi a Muslim-dominated slum colony in Deonar rumors are being spread that the police have been pulling out innocent people from their homes. The rumors turn out to be unfounded but amidst the fear and fervor truth has become a casualty.
The Urdu press has also come out strongly against the Rao government and the police action. Inquilab the leading Urdu daily in an editorial headlined “Upper hand for Fascists” accuses the Congress of having joined hands with the BJP and claims that the Rao government is shedding crocodile tears now. Terming the events in Ayodhya as a defeat for the “Wazir-e-Azum” Rao it demands his resignation for failing to take prompt action.
The other major Urdu daily Urdu Times in an editorial titled “Revenge with ballot paper” also takes the government to task for failing to uphold the rule of law. Accusing the Rao government of fooling the Muslim masses it suggests that the best way to take revenge against politicians is through the ballot box.
While most of the Urdu dailies have condemned the police firing (“police bullets have the names of innocent Muslims written on them” says one paper) they are all unanimous in advising their readers to exercise restraint and maintain peace. But as Fuzail Jaffrey editor and Inquilab says “I guess not everyone is willing to accept the voice of reason.
Article extracted from this publication >> December 30, 1992
