Why Mumbai escaped a flare-up

Source: The Hindu (http://www.hinduonnet.com/2006/08/05/stories/2006080504921100.htm)


Kalpana Sharma



MUMBAI HAS not seen a serious communal conflagration since the post-Babri Masjid 1992-93 riots. The absence of a riot does not mean there has been no communal tension. But for a variety of reasons, the tension between communities has been restricted or contained within certain areas and has not spread to the entire city. This is something that has to be noted, not necessarily to be celebrated.

With the on-going investigations into the July 11 serial bomb blasts, the question about whether communal tensions could once again surface and come out in the open is being debated. Some feel that the anger in the minority community, which comprises over 17 per cent of Mumbai's population, is boiling over and some of it has found expression in the men suspected of having participated directly, or having assisted indirectly in the bomb blasts. It is evident that in some Muslim-dominated pockets, there is fear, anger, and even resignation following the "combing" operations being conducted by the police.

However, Muslim community leaders say this is nothing new.

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