• About us
  • Columnists
  • Careers
  • Brand Partnerships
  • rightlog is now TFIPOST
TFI Official Merchandise
हिन्दी
Thursday, May 19, 2022
TFIPOST
  • Politics
    • All
    • Analysis
    • Opinions
    • Trending
    Dear Muslims, if it sounds Hindu, looks Hindu, it is probably Hindu

    Dear Muslims, if it sounds Hindu, looks Hindu, it is probably Hindu

    Hardik is politically dead, but his resignation letter was a masterpiece

    Hardik is politically dead, but his resignation letter was a masterpiece

    Thomas Midgley Jr. picture

    The renowned scientist who created two of the most destructive products in the history of humanity

    What will it take for other games to rise to the status of franchise sports?

    What will it take for other games to rise to the status of franchise sports?

    • Analysis
    • Opinions
    • Trending
  • Economy
    • All
    • Business
    • Economy1
    • Finance
    green energy

    With gasification of coal, India takes a step ahead towards clean energy

    Adani

    Gautam Adani comes across as a compulsive, obsessive shopaholic

    Vistara and Air India

    Time for a bold prediction – TATA will merge Vistara and Air India

    They kept abusing Adani until one day Adani bought them, A Quint Saga

    They kept abusing Adani until one day Adani bought them, A Quint Saga

    • Business
    • Finance
  • Defense
    • All
    • Defence
    • Strategy
    • Weaponry
    Sham no Varunah: India begins its total dominance in the seas

    Sham no Varunah: India begins its total dominance in the seas

    A comprehensive list of weapons India manufactured and procured in the last 24 months

    A comprehensive list of weapons India manufactured and procured in the last 24 months

    Ajit Doval warning

    Ajit Doval makes it clear that Balakot and surgical strikes are only the beginning

    AK-47

    AK-47: How a Russian gun changed the course of history

    • Defence
    • Strategy
    • Weaponry
  • Geopolitics
    • All
    • Africa
    • Americas
    • Asia Pacific
    • Europe
    • South Asia
    • West Asia
    There could be many poles in the new world order but India is definitely the centre of it

    There could be many poles in the new world order but India is definitely the centre of it

    Necklace of Diamonds

    How India’s ‘Necklace of Diamonds’ outsmarted China’s ‘String of Pearls’ in the Indian Ocean

    OIC Pakistan

    Indian Foreign Ministry rips into Pak and its Arabian masters for bad-mouthing delimitation in J&K

    Original NATO is breathing its last, so a duplicate rises

    Original NATO is breathing its last, so a duplicate rises

    • Africa
    • Americas
    • Asia Pacific
    • Europe
    • South Asia
    • West Asia
  • Knowledge
    • All
    • Culture
    • History
    • Indology
    Intermittent Fasting

    The West is repackaging and selling Vrata/Upwaas as “Intermittent Fasting”

    Sanctity of Shri Jagannath Puri Mandir should not become a victim of political tussle

    Sanctity of Shri Jagannath Puri Mandir should not become a victim of political tussle

    Teresa documentary

    Saint or Sinner? – A Sky Documentary that Exposes Mother Teresa

    IVC

    Rakhigarhi expedition once again proves why India was fully developed thousands of years ago

    • Culture
    • History
    • Indology
  • Lounge
    • All
    • Books
    • Cinema
    • Food
    • Health
    • Lifestyle
    • Satire
    • Sports
    • technology
    • Travel
    Happy Birthday to Nawazuddin Siddique: The most overrated actor of recent times

    Happy Birthday to Nawazuddin Siddique: The most overrated actor of recent times

    Intermittent Fasting

    The West is repackaging and selling Vrata/Upwaas as “Intermittent Fasting”

    5 Actors who would have looked better as Prithviraj Chauhan than Akshay Kumar

    5 Actors who would have looked better as Prithviraj Chauhan than Akshay Kumar

    Andrew Symonds

    Andrew Symonds: Once in a generation cricketing legend

    • Books
    • Cinema
    • Food
    • Health
    • Sports
    • technology
    • Travel
    • Satire
No Result
View All Result
TFIPOST
  • Politics
    • All
    • Analysis
    • Opinions
    • Trending
    Dear Muslims, if it sounds Hindu, looks Hindu, it is probably Hindu

    Dear Muslims, if it sounds Hindu, looks Hindu, it is probably Hindu

    Hardik is politically dead, but his resignation letter was a masterpiece

    Hardik is politically dead, but his resignation letter was a masterpiece

    Thomas Midgley Jr. picture

    The renowned scientist who created two of the most destructive products in the history of humanity

    What will it take for other games to rise to the status of franchise sports?

    What will it take for other games to rise to the status of franchise sports?

    • Analysis
    • Opinions
    • Trending
  • Economy
    • All
    • Business
    • Economy1
    • Finance
    green energy

    With gasification of coal, India takes a step ahead towards clean energy

    Adani

    Gautam Adani comes across as a compulsive, obsessive shopaholic

    Vistara and Air India

    Time for a bold prediction – TATA will merge Vistara and Air India

    They kept abusing Adani until one day Adani bought them, A Quint Saga

    They kept abusing Adani until one day Adani bought them, A Quint Saga

    • Business
    • Finance
  • Defense
    • All
    • Defence
    • Strategy
    • Weaponry
    Sham no Varunah: India begins its total dominance in the seas

    Sham no Varunah: India begins its total dominance in the seas

    A comprehensive list of weapons India manufactured and procured in the last 24 months

    A comprehensive list of weapons India manufactured and procured in the last 24 months

    Ajit Doval warning

    Ajit Doval makes it clear that Balakot and surgical strikes are only the beginning

    AK-47

    AK-47: How a Russian gun changed the course of history

    • Defence
    • Strategy
    • Weaponry
  • Geopolitics
    • All
    • Africa
    • Americas
    • Asia Pacific
    • Europe
    • South Asia
    • West Asia
    There could be many poles in the new world order but India is definitely the centre of it

    There could be many poles in the new world order but India is definitely the centre of it

    Necklace of Diamonds

    How India’s ‘Necklace of Diamonds’ outsmarted China’s ‘String of Pearls’ in the Indian Ocean

    OIC Pakistan

    Indian Foreign Ministry rips into Pak and its Arabian masters for bad-mouthing delimitation in J&K

    Original NATO is breathing its last, so a duplicate rises

    Original NATO is breathing its last, so a duplicate rises

    • Africa
    • Americas
    • Asia Pacific
    • Europe
    • South Asia
    • West Asia
  • Knowledge
    • All
    • Culture
    • History
    • Indology
    Intermittent Fasting

    The West is repackaging and selling Vrata/Upwaas as “Intermittent Fasting”

    Sanctity of Shri Jagannath Puri Mandir should not become a victim of political tussle

    Sanctity of Shri Jagannath Puri Mandir should not become a victim of political tussle

    Teresa documentary

    Saint or Sinner? – A Sky Documentary that Exposes Mother Teresa

    IVC

    Rakhigarhi expedition once again proves why India was fully developed thousands of years ago

    • Culture
    • History
    • Indology
  • Lounge
    • All
    • Books
    • Cinema
    • Food
    • Health
    • Lifestyle
    • Satire
    • Sports
    • technology
    • Travel
    Happy Birthday to Nawazuddin Siddique: The most overrated actor of recent times

    Happy Birthday to Nawazuddin Siddique: The most overrated actor of recent times

    Intermittent Fasting

    The West is repackaging and selling Vrata/Upwaas as “Intermittent Fasting”

    5 Actors who would have looked better as Prithviraj Chauhan than Akshay Kumar

    5 Actors who would have looked better as Prithviraj Chauhan than Akshay Kumar

    Andrew Symonds

    Andrew Symonds: Once in a generation cricketing legend

    • Books
    • Cinema
    • Food
    • Health
    • Sports
    • technology
    • Travel
    • Satire
No Result
View All Result
TFIPOST
No Result
View All Result

Balasaheb Thackeray ‘s involvement in1992-93 Mumbai riots – Was he unfairly targeted?

Guest Author
by Guest Author
24 January 2016
in Opinions, TFIUvaach
0
Balasaheb Thackrey
562
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Yesterday, on the occasion of the late Balasaheb Thackeray ’s 90th Birth Anniversary, I happened to carry out an Internet search of the much revered leader. To my surprise, the internet search made me stumble across an article that made a reference to Balasaheb Thackeray’s alleged complicity, in the 1992-93 riots of Mumbai.
The following passage is an excerpt from the said article entitled “The poisoned earth”  written by a currently serving Additional Judge of the Bombay High Court, Justice Gautam Patel, prior to his appointment as an Additional Judge of the Bombay High Court:

“Against those who instigated, triggered and participated in the carnage, and ravaged forever the face of an entire city, nothing followed. Nothing, that is, except two decades later, a valorization of Bal Thackeray that is as perplexing as it is disquieting. Not because he had legions of followers, but because in accepting the elision of the past of people like him, we move ourselves closer to fascism and an acceptance of everything we should not aim to be, everything our Constitution demands we not become.”

Justice Gautam Patel’s uncharitable personal opinion of Balasaheb Thackeray, in the context of the 1992-93 riots in Mumbai, would most likely be dismissed by the late leader’s ardent supporters, as yet another example of allegedly biased left wing propaganda, that routinely finds space in a partisan Mainstream Media narrative, which in my opinion, has seldom taken the trouble to present a balanced assessment of tragedies like the 1992-93 riots of Mumbai.
Why should the Hon’ble Justice Mr. Gautam Patel’s personal opinion of Balasaheb Thackeray, in his published article from the year 2012 be of any relevance, one may ask? Well, this is a question I shall address in the latter part of this article.

But to begin with, it has been exactly 23 years since the Hindu-Muslim riots of 1992-93 ravaged the city of Mumbai (following the demolition of the disputed structure on the Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya); and in all honesty, despite being on the opposite end of the ideological divide from Justice Gautam Patel, I find myself quite incapable of taking on, as it were, his strident views expressed on the matter. This isn’t because I agree with anything he has expressed in his opinion piece; but largely because there is a seemingly formidable foundation for him to base his views on; this foundation is the report tabled by the Justice B.N. Srikrishna Commission of Inquiry.

For the benefit of the uninitiated, the Justice B.N. Srikrishna Commission of Inquiry was a committee originally constituted by the then Indian National Congress ruled State Government of Maharashtra in 1993, to inquire into and investigate the causes that lead to the widespread rioting in Mumbai, in the aftermath of what transpired in Ayodhya. Interestingly, the Commission was temporarily disbanded after the Shiv Sena assumed power in Maharashtra in early 1996; only to be reconstituted later that year with an additional mandate of also inquiring into and investigating the Serial Bomb blasts of Mumbai that occurred in March of 1993.
The 800-page report of the Justice B.N. Srikrishna Commission of Inquiry when finally tabled in the year 1998, had in effect indicted Balasaheb Thackeray and members of the Shiv Sena; and had significantly observed (among other things) that Bal Thackeray had, “like a veteran general commanded his loyal Shiv Sainiks to retaliate with organised attacks against Muslims”.

It is however pertinent to note, that even though the findings of the Justice B.N. Srikrishna Commission of Inquiry, have frequently been used as a point of reference by Mainstream Media commentators to amplify the alleged atrocities committed against Muslims, in the course of the 1992-93 riots in Mumbai; the fact remains that a commission like the Justice B.N. Srikrishna Commission which was constituted under the provisions of the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952, does not possess the same judicial sanction which is the defining feature of verdicts pronounced by Courts of law in India.

And while I do not want to be perceived as belittling the apparently exhaustive inquiry conducted by the Justice B.N. Srikrishna Commission; there is in my mind, absolutely no reason why the report tabled by the said commission, cannot be described as an exercise carried out with the sole intention of endeavouring to assuage the Muslim community in India, by attempting to interpret what was after all a chaotic communal madness that engulfed Mumbai from the 7th of December 1992 to the 26th of January 1993.

In other words, if there is a school of thought that interprets and condemns the role played by the Shiv Sena under Balasaheb Thackeray in the riots, as being the primary retaliator to what is widely acknowledged (in the report of the commission as well) as a trigger for the said ‘Hindu’ retaliation; namely the killings of the Hindu, Mathadi Kamgar Workers in the Muslim dominated area of Dongri, along with the widespread stabbings and burning of six Hindus (including a physically handicapped girl) at the Radhabhai Chawl at Jogeshwari; carried out by fanatic Muslim mobs that also went on an assertive rampage against a Mumbai Police, that was completely overwhelmed, then there is also a school of thought that regards the Shiv Sena as the defenders of the Hindu Community in Mumbai, from the wrath of a Muslim Mob, whose initiation of the riots in Mumbai is often excused by Mainstream Media commentators on the subject, with a sort of convoluted justification, that the demolition of the structure in Ayodhya somehow gave them a license to vent their anger and break the law.

Hate begets hate; Violence begets violence; and it really serves no purpose for us to reopen old wounds. But neither must we allow the Mainstream Media to mislead us into a guilt trip for what happened in Mumbai 23 years ago. We must insist on giving a fair hearing to both sides of the story (If at all the story has to be heard at all after all these years). The Teesta’s, Sardesai’s and Gautam Patel’s of the world must never be allowed to have the final word on what the legacy of the Tiger of Maharashtra, or perhaps I should say the whole of India, should be.

Anyway, coming back to why the Hon’ble Justice Gautam Patel’s personal opinion of the late Balasaheb Thackeray, is of some relevance; I’m sure the readers would be interested to know, that the Hon’ble Justice Gautam Patel is the same judge who until very recently, had been assigned the job of adjudicating a currently pending dispute before the Bombay High Court, arising out of the Last Will and Testament of the late Balasaheb Thackeray; the validity of which has been challenged by his eldest son, Shri Jaidev Thackeray.

Now I must clarify that I have no reason to call into question the ability of the Ld. Justice Gautam Patel to have dispensed justice in the said dispute, in an unbiased and dispassionate manner; for his personal opinion of Balasaheb Thackeray, would not have had any bearing on his judicial mandate to decide the validity of the late Balasaheb Thackeray’s Last Will and Testament.

But all the same, I find it rather amusing that he should have been assigned the task of adjudicating a dispute concerning the Last Will and Testament of a man, whose past (in the context of the 1992-93 Mumbai riots), he did not want the public to omit from their memories; lest it moved them closer towards fascism; the same purported fascism which, it could be argued, has now been inherited in the form of a political legacy by Uddhav Thackeray; who incidentally also happens to be a benefactor of the Will in dispute.

– Mailed by Guest Author who prefers to stay anonymous!

Tags: 1992-93 riotsB.N. Srikrishna CommissionJaidev ThackerayJustice Gautam PatelUddhav Thackrey
ShareTweetSend
Previous Post

Amit Shah Version 2.0: What the Chanakya of BJP needs to do to reclaim his lost glory?

Next Post

Don’t glorify those who commit suicide, don’t make martyrs out of them

Guest Author

Guest Author

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms of use and Privacy Policy.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

  • Most Read
  • Comments
  • Latest
Xi Jinping, coronavirus, Shinzo Abe, china, Japan, coornavirus, COVID-19, Wuhan Virus

‘Pack up and get out of there,’ Japan to spend $2.2 billion to get Japanese companies to exit China

9 April 2020
ajay devgn karan johar

The man who bullied the Bully – How Ajay Devgn made Karan Johar’s monopoly a joke and forced him to apologize

22 June 2020
Huawei, China, Trump, USA, Xi Jinping

‘Our survival is at stake now,’ Chinese Telecom giant Huawei crumbles after US ban on Semiconductor exports

19 May 2020
T-Series Sonu Nigam Divya Khosla Kumar Bhushan Kumar

T-Series forced to take down Atif Aslam’s video, Divya Khosla trolled. T-Series has a bad day in office

25 June 2020
Meat Ban

A Jain responds to Meat Ban in Mumbai

Public Sector Bank, Government, Bill

Dear bank employees, continue your stride but PSBs will be privatized

anti-Hindi

Anti-Hindi Forever?- In search of a National Language!

Dear Liberals – your Beef Parties are not protests, they just intend to displease the Majority

Dear Liberals – your Beef Parties are not protests, they just intend to displease the Majority

Dear Muslims, if it sounds Hindu, looks Hindu, it is probably Hindu

Dear Muslims, if it sounds Hindu, looks Hindu, it is probably Hindu

19 May 2022
Hardik is politically dead, but his resignation letter was a masterpiece

Hardik is politically dead, but his resignation letter was a masterpiece

19 May 2022
Happy Birthday to Nawazuddin Siddique: The most overrated actor of recent times

Happy Birthday to Nawazuddin Siddique: The most overrated actor of recent times

19 May 2022
Sham no Varunah: India begins its total dominance in the seas

Sham no Varunah: India begins its total dominance in the seas

19 May 2022

Popular This Week

5 Actors who would have looked better as Prithviraj Chauhan than Akshay Kumar
Cinema

5 Actors who would have looked better as Prithviraj Chauhan than Akshay Kumar

by Tanya Trivedi
17 May 2022
reliance brands
Trending

Mukesh Ambani is out to challenge Pepsi and Coca-Cola

by Rahul Gupta
17 May 2022
They kept abusing Adani until one day Adani bought them, A Quint Saga
Business

They kept abusing Adani until one day Adani bought them, A Quint Saga

by Abhishek Kumar Singh
16 May 2022
Vistara and Air India
Business

Time for a bold prediction – TATA will merge Vistara and Air India

by Abhishek Kumar Singh
17 May 2022
Kerala crisis
Trending

Kerala government goes bankrupt

by TFIPOST News Desk
14 May 2022

©2022 TFI Media Private Limited

  • Terms of use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sitemap
No Result
View All Result
  • Politics
    • Analysis
    • Opinions
    • Trending
  • Economy
    • Business
    • Finance
  • Defense
    • Defence
    • Strategy
    • Weaponry
  • Geopolitics
    • Africa
    • Americas
    • Asia Pacific
    • Europe
    • South Asia
    • West Asia
  • Knowledge
    • Culture
    • History
    • Indology
  • Lounge
    • Books
    • Cinema
    • Food
    • Health
    • Sports
    • technology
    • Travel
    • Satire
TFI Official Merchandise
हिन्दी
  • About us
  • Columnists
  • Careers
  • Brand Partnerships
  • rightlog is now TFIPOST

©2022 TFI Media Private Limited

Follow us on Twitter

and never miss an insightful take by the TFIPOST team

Follow @tfipost