February 15, 2007
Months after the July 2006 bomb blasts in Mumbai
trains and 13 years after the serial blasts
ripped through Bombay in 1993, a judgment was
delivered. Now, over 100 accused await the final
sentence. As much as it seems inevitable that
punishment for the perpetrators of the bomb
violence is a necessary form of redressal for
the 200 families who lost dear ones in the serial
blasts, it becomes important and critical that
Mumbai and India remember the truth of what
tore India's cosmopolitan Mecca apart that December
(1992) and January (1993).
An act of national terror was perpetrated at
Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, in public view.
A historic mosque was pulled down amid macabre
celebration. In Bombay the first victory procession
celebrating this act of vandalism was taken
out (and allowed) in the Dharavi area at 2 pm
that Sunday afternoon, with slogans of victory.
>From Monday, December 7, 1992, irate Muslim
groups, alienated at the letdown by the Indian
State, demonstrated and there were instances
of some destruction of public property. Yet
for many in the media, the earlier provocations
of December 6 were ignored and 'angry Muslims
carried the blame for having cast the first
stone'.
Detailed investigations by human rights groups
and, finally, the official Srikrishna Commission
report directed prosecutions against policemen
and civilians, many of whom have political clout.
So while the recent convictions in the blasts
case surely send a message that the Indian system
delivers justice to all for crimes, a gross
lacunae remains: how are those pinpointed as
guilty of the December 1992 to January 1993
mob violence scot-free?
Justice BN Srikrishna who conducted the official
probe into the violence had this to say, "One
common link between the riots... and bomb blasts
of March 12, 1993, appears to be that the former
appear to have been a causative factor for the
latter... The serial bomb blasts were a reaction
to the totality of events at Ayodhya and Bombay
in December 1992 and January 1993." The
Srikrishna Commission has concluded that the
resentment against the government and the police
among a large body of Muslim youth was exploited
by Pakistan-aided anti-national elements. They
were brainwashed into taking revenge and a conspiracy
was hatched and implemented at the instance
of Dawood Ibrahim to train Muslims on how to
explode bombs near vital installations and in
Hindu areas to engineer a fresh round of riots.
"There is no doubt that all the accused,
except two or three, are Muslims and there is
no doubt that the major role in the conspiracy,
at the Indian as well as foreign end, was played
by Muslims," says the report.
Over 45 accused in the bomb blasts case have
made a fervent appeal. Among them are simple
hamaals (whose only participation in the crime
was unknowingly carrying parcels that contained
substances used in the crime), others innocent
women, who were similarly clueless. They have
argued that they have been victims of a system
that has pre-determined their guilt and the
long trial lasting 14 years has amounted to
a pre-conviction punishment.
While Sanjay Dutt's plea for removal of Tada
charges was accepted, 91 accused of far less
in abetment than him have been denied parity.
Incidentally, the day the Tada court started
pronouncing the verdict, there were about 96
accused on bail. They surrendered the moment
the Tada court summoned them, which is not the
behaviour of criminals.
As the bomb terror of March 12, 1993, has been
recalled in the public mind with the delivery
of the verdict, the mob terror of December 6,
1992, in Ayodhya needs to be rehauled in public
memory and condemned for what it was. None of
the criminals responsible for the demolition
of the Babri masjid and incitement and abetment
of the crime have been convicted. Few have borne
punishment for the loss of lives and property
all over the country.
If the soul of India was seared on December
6, 1992, the soul of Bombay was forever scarred
by the mob violence of December 8 to January
20, 1993. Mobs stalked the streets that were
likened to Nazi Germany and the Bombay police
connived with mobsters in mass arson, murder
and even rape. Worse still, the political leadership
watched as Bombay burned.
Justice for all and injustice to none is the
credo on which independent India was conceived
and built. Those guilty of the mob terror of
1992 and 1993 must be punished with the same
determination as those responsible for the bomb
terror that followed. The Indian republic today
falters on the tombstone of discriminatory justice.
Teesta Setalvad is co-editor, Communalism Combat
