Re: Remembering the Mumbai riots......
Actually I was very surprised. The Shiv Sena had knowledge of where all Muslim's resided in colonies. Where they didnot know, they would come a verify. I had a friend(a Hindu), whose surname was Malik(he was a Punjabi), it took some time for his family to clarify the Sainiks that they were not Muslims. Then the house of the the Mid-Day Urdu tabaloid's editor Harron Rashid was burned down. That was shocking, cause he lived in one of the Marine Drive apartments that were considered safe.
Bandra was a suburb that has a big Muslim population, also Bal Thakeray lives there. The Western side was peaceful. On the East next to the station was a jhuggi called Behrampada. The gullies inside stretch to Bandra Terminus(then newly built). Right across the highway lives Bal Thakeray. My hostel was next to his residence. For a full week we heard firing from across the higway. A Shiv Sena corporator wa arrested nearby by the Army for possesion of arms, but was later released. Food became a major problem, the hostel canteen was not stocked, so we ate in a cancer hospital. Bandra East has another colony called Bharatnagar. One could hear daily surmons from leaders with no intentions of setteling things down.
Hordes of Muslims were styranded on the railway plaforms of Victoria Terminus to go back to their homes in UP and Bihar. Those were very frietning times. The Parsi editor of The Afternoon Despatch and Courier wrote how he could'nt look the morning Baker(a Muslim) in the eye when he came to deliver the bread.
The character of Mumbai changed permanently after the riots. The Police became partisan and that has resulted in the current Telgi scam. The Shiv Sena too assisted in the downfall from a modern, westernised, secure and efficient city to what it is now, a jhuggi jhopri filled urban mess that is smelly and rotting at the roots.