Page 95 - Non-violence and peace-building

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Lessons for Conflict-Resolution

n May 1984, deadly riots rocked Mumbai and the
Ineighbouring town of Bhiwandi. The then head of
the Shiv Sena, Mr. Bal Thackeray, had delivered a
speech on April 21 at a public rally in Mumbai. The
media had not given it much attention, though some
local Marathi papers reported on it, but in not a very
provocative manner. But the Nasheman, a Bangalore-
th
based Urdu newspaper, covered it—on the 5 of May,
several days later. This was enough to inflame Muslim
passions. Some days after this, it was highlighted by
another Muslim newspaper, the Mumbai-based Alam,
this time with bold headlines. And then, as is the norm
for them, many other Urdu papers jumped into the fray,
highlighting the speech and stoking Muslim emotions.
They claimed that Mr. Thackeray had insulted the
Quran, the Prophet and Islam—which, they declared,
Muslims simply would not tolerate.
On the 3 of May, the Shiv Sena took out a procession
rd
in the town of Bhiwandi to mark the occasion of Shiv
Jayanti. This procession had been banned after the riots
that the town had witnessed in 1970. But in 1984, Shiv
Sena leaders managed to secure permission from the

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