9 yrs after Kurla riots govt still not sure of "action to be taken"

MUMBAI, April 21: Nine years after the caste riots in Mumbai and four years after the completion of judicial probe, the action taken by the ...

MUMBAI, April 21: Nine years after the caste riots in Mumbai and four years after the completion of judicial probe, the action taken by the administration is a poetry in ambiguity.

THE Maharashtra government today tabled the Justice Parekh commission report probing into the October 1989 caste riots in Mumbai in which four people were killed, a score of others injured and large-scale damage caused to public property. The report has held two organisations, the Republican Party of India and the Shiv Sena, responsible for the riots.

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The N K Parekh enquiry commission had been appointed in December 1990 and had submitted its report in August 1994. But almost four years after its submission, the report was tabled today in the Legislative Assembly with an 11-page Action Taken Report (ATR). The government’s ATR said the commission’s recommendations “may be accepted.”

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Riots had sparked off at Kurla, Chembur and Ghatkopar on October 10, 1989 following the demolition of a Buddha Vihar by municipal authorities.

Violence quickly spread to other parts of the city, and the police had to open fire to quell the disturbance. Four persons were killed in the firing, and many more injured. The riots considerably sharpened caste tensions in the metropolis.

The commission’s investigations revealed the main reason for the outbreak of violence was the demolition of the Buddha temple at Nehru Nagar and political rivalry between Chandrakant Handore of the Republican Party of India and Shantaram Naik of the Shiv Sena. The report has pointed out: “Two organisations (Republican Party of India and the Shiv Sena) were responsible for the riots.”

The commission has dwelt at length on the role of the police and their inability to control the riots, saying the police didn’t make any effort to collect confidential information between 10th to 15th October 1989, the five days the flare-up continued. Had this information been collected, it would have been possible for the police to control the mob, the commission has noted, adding thepolice only made two preventive arrests. The ATR said instructions may be issued to all police officers to take proper precautions in the future.

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The commission has indicted the police for inadequate use of teargas shells and unjustified firing. “The firing on 10th and 15th October, 1989, at Siddharth Nagar and Shramjivi Nagar was unjustified and unwarranted.” In this regard, the government’s ATC said the concerned police officer was dead and therefore no action could be taken.

The commission has also made several recommendations vis-a-vis the administration and procedure of policing, and highlighted the need for training police personnel in modern methods of controlling mobs and equipping them with adequate means of communication.