[Reader-list] First posting on Sarai fellowships from Meena Menon

[meena menon]

Hi Vivek
Here is my first posting. will you send it to the list. thanks
meena

Hi all
This is my first posting on the list. I work with The Hindu in Mumbai and
have been a journalist for over 20 years.
My research for the SARAI fellowship is titled "Recovering Lost Histories
Riot victims, communal polarisation of Mumbai, its impact on people and
perceptions about communities". The main focus  will be the city of Mumbai,
which I feel has changed in obvious and not so obvious ways since the post
Babri Masjid demolition riots of December 1992 and January 1993. Divisions
between Hindus and Muslims have become deeper and ghettos have sprung up in
new places. I would like to spend some time looking at how the city has
changed and how people have lived through difficult times since the riots.
The main focus of the research will be the families of the victims of riots
in Mumbai in 1992-93 after the Babri Masjid demolition. Mumbai was one of
the worst affected cities and very little has been done to punish the people
guilty of many crimes in those two months. The high profile trial of the
1993 serial blasts has come to an end and the verdict is being handed out,
while the Srikrishna commission, which did a detailed report on the riots,
has been shelved.

Over a 1000 people were killed in mob rioting and by the police and hundreds
of people were forced to move out to relief camps that were mostly run by
individuals and NGOs. The riots clearly intensified the divide between two
communities and created a process of further ghettoisation. I traced some
families and many of them have moved from their original houses at the time
of the riots and are now living in other areas. The riots also led to many
people going to live in the extended suburbs of Mumbai or in the
neighbouring Thane district. New colonies were created by this migration,
which developed their own identity and culture.  These now are the same
areas, which are labelled "terrorist" hotbeds, and many of the people
accused of "anti-national" crimes are picked up from these areas like Mumbra
in Thane district and Naya Nagar outside the city.

Mumbai already has areas, which are ghettos in parts of South, Central,
Western and Eastern Mumbai. Post riots, there has been a major sense of
insecurity among the victims and their decision to move out of "mixed"
localities has been influenced by this fear.

Much of the root of this division lies in the riots of 1992-93, which
created displacement of an unprecedented scale. The sad part is that most of
this went unnoticed and people were forced to quietly search for
alternatives and continue with their lives. Many of them were helped by
journalists or NGOs and the government really played a pathetic role in all
this. I think to go back and find out how people have lived since the riots
will be an important part of understanding how they coped with so much
trauma and injustice. It will also lead to an understanding of the new
equations between communities that were created, whether positive or
negative.

Along with many others, I covered the riots and bomb blasts in 1992-93 and
at that time met many of the victims and travelled to the riot affected
areas in the city. For journalists who covered the riots, it was a terrible
experience in many ways. A lot of what happened then has stayed with many of
us and we feel the need to revisit some of those events in the past and the
people it affected. These events cannot be allowed to hang loose as a
fragment of history. I feel they have to be recovered and represented in a
way that helps people make important linkages with the past and present.
While I am used to the written word, I could present the research in the
form of oral history, recordings of interviews, photographs and any other
material that I think will suitably illustrate the stories. I usually prefer
the rather staid narrative or photographs but I would also like to explore
other options.

The riots and the serial blasts changed perceptions and reinforced
stereotypes about communities. The roots of public perception about Muslims
largely changed so much after the riots.This is another area I want to
concentrate on in the research. Politicians who indulged in the worst kind
of propaganda were responsible in a large part for the murder and mayhem.
Yet these people were let off mildly.  It may be useful to record their
perceptions after so many years. The police too played a role that cannot be
forgotten during the riots. So many cases against policemen were never dealt
with properly. Few were actually punished for some really heinous crimes.

The serial blasts which were perceived as a "revenge" for the riots, added
to the polarisation. I met some victims of the blasts and they too are left
high and dry. Few have got compensation and many just get by. The city has
so many of these scars, which it bears seemingly lightly. That is a
misconception that needs to be corrected. The scars of those years have
created deeper divisions and in tracing the complexities involved some
important truths may emerge.

Progress so far: Interviews with lawyers dealing with riot cases which are
still in the court. Visit to Behrampada in Bandra which was affected  very
badly in the riots and interviews with families.

Regards

Meena Menon
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