The murderous mayhem that Bombay descended into last month was ignited by the demolition of a mosque by Hindu militants. But the violence that raged in India’s richest and most cosmopolitan city over the past two weeks was no spontaneous spasm. It was an organized assault on Muslims by the local Hindu extremist group, Shiv Sena, with zealots joining criminal gangs in a wave of beatings, stabbings and burnings that killed 500 people and forced 100,000 from their homes. What made the upheaval particularly traumatic was the abdication of authority both in Bombay and in New Delhi. Local police, who a month earlier were accused of being trigger-happy, Stood passively by, as did Army units, while mobs inflicted $300 million in damage. The city burned for 11 days before the prime minister appeared. Last month, Hindu militants seemed to gain popular support from their vandalism. But there will be n0 political winners from Bombay’s latest thuggery.
From U.S.News & World Report. Jan.25,1993
Article extracted from this publication >> January 29, 1993
