abhishreshthaa
Abhijeet S
The 1993 communal riots of Mumbai, in which over 1,000 people were killed, have had far-reaching effects, including changes in the spatial concentration of the city, the attitude of Muslims towards the government and the political parties, and the way the residents perceive their city.
The 1992-93 Mumbai riots resulted in a spatial transformation of the city along religious lines. Muslims have come to believe it is better to live together and the process of ghettoisation is evident in many parts of the city today.
IN December 1992 - January 1993, Mumbai set a record of sorts for itself in the matter of communal madness. In the riots that followed the destruction of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, more than a thousand people were killed. Unlike previous riots, violence was dispersed and it spread to relatively newly urbanized areas. Arson, killings and the destruction of property occurred in distinctively different kinds of areas. Violence affected not only slums but also apartment blocks and chawls. What was common to all the areas was the systematic targeting of Muslims, who comprised 17 per cent of the city's population.
The relief work that followed the riots helped members of the Muslim community resume their everyday lives. However, although successive governments promised to do away with communal forces and civic organizations worked towards communal amity, stray communal incidents still occur in Mumbai. "Mumbai changed after 1993" is a common refrain of long-time residents of the city. A decade later, subtle changes are evident in the spatial concentrations in Mumbai, in the attitude of Muslims towards the government and the political parties, and in the way Mumbai perceive their city.
The 1992-93 Mumbai riots resulted in a spatial transformation of the city along religious lines. Muslims have come to believe it is better to live together and the process of ghettoisation is evident in many parts of the city today.
IN December 1992 - January 1993, Mumbai set a record of sorts for itself in the matter of communal madness. In the riots that followed the destruction of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, more than a thousand people were killed. Unlike previous riots, violence was dispersed and it spread to relatively newly urbanized areas. Arson, killings and the destruction of property occurred in distinctively different kinds of areas. Violence affected not only slums but also apartment blocks and chawls. What was common to all the areas was the systematic targeting of Muslims, who comprised 17 per cent of the city's population.
The relief work that followed the riots helped members of the Muslim community resume their everyday lives. However, although successive governments promised to do away with communal forces and civic organizations worked towards communal amity, stray communal incidents still occur in Mumbai. "Mumbai changed after 1993" is a common refrain of long-time residents of the city. A decade later, subtle changes are evident in the spatial concentrations in Mumbai, in the attitude of Muslims towards the government and the political parties, and in the way Mumbai perceive their city.