47 Hours and Still On:
The Tajmahal Hotel, The Oberoi Trident and Nariman House has become the world stage. The NSG and the Commandos are fighting the new face of the terrorism in Mumbai. About 200 People including foreign nationals killed till the last news came in. The world has been prooved an idiot again (by terrorist outfits) and is glued to the idiot box. Mumbai never asked for this. Neither any other city wanted this. Do we need to accept this that terrorism is an integral part of our life ? Can it disrupt our life at any given point of time and can create a huge toll on us!!
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Mumbai is the heart of india and there is no doubt about that. Every citizen love it and love it as a whole. It had many names in the past. Viz. Arabs called it - "Al -Omanis, The Portguese renamed it "Bom Bahia", English Renamed it "Bombay" and The name "Mumbai" was derived from "Mumba Devi - The Goddess Mumba".
(As a matter of fact, the Arabs had destroyed all the temples on these seven islands, and the Portuguese did not permit their reconstruction. It was only the English who allowed the reconstruction and building of new temples.)
It has also been given numerous nick names as The Financial Capital Of The Nation, City Of Dreams, City Of Happenings, Tinsel Town, Bollywood and many more. Over the centuries people from all region have come in and have settled within its limits and kept on expanding it. Even today many dream of visiting this sleepless city at least once. The kind of opportunities it generates, for every strata of the so called society, has always been incredible and is the main reason as to why it has become a dream city.
History Of Mumbai:
The History of Mumbai recounts the growth of a collection of Mumbai from seven islands on the western coast of India becoming the commercial capital of the nation and one of the most populous cities in the world. Although human habitation existed during the Stone Age. The Kolis were the earliest settlers of the islands. The Maurya Empire gained control of the islands during the third century BCE, and transformed it into a centre for Hindu and Buddhist culture and religion. The Satavahanas, Abhiras, Vakatakas, Kalachuris, Chalukyas and Rashtrakutas ruled the islands later, before it fell to the Silhara dynasty from 810 to 1260.King Bhimdev founded his kingdom in the region in the late 13th century, and brought many settlers to the islands. The Muzaffarid dynasty of Gujarat captured the islands in 1343 ending the Hindu sovereignty over the islands. The Treaty of Bassein between the Portuguese and Sultan Bahadur Shah of the Gujarat Sultanate placed the islands into Portuguese possession in 1534. Charles II of England received possession of the islands in 1661 as the dowry of Catherine de Braganza, and he later leased them to the British East India Company in 1668. The city was named Bombay by the British.It suffered incursions from Mughals towards the end of the 17th century. During the mid-18th century, the city emerged as an important trading town, with maritime trade contacts with Mecca and Basra. Economic and educational development characterised the city during the 19th century with the first-ever Indian railway line beginning operations between Bombay and neighbouring Thane in 1853. The city became a strong base of the Indian independence movement during the early 20th century and was the main centre of the Rowlatt Satyagraha of 1919 and Royal Indian Navy Mutiny of 1946.The city was incorporated into the dominion of the newly created Maharashtra State from the State of Bombay in 1960, following protests from the Samyukta Maharashtra movement.
Irrespective of caste, creed and religion I personally consider every person as a human and inhabitants of a particular place, city, state or country where they live in. Each individual contibutes its bit to the society to which he or she is a part of. Therefore, everybody (people from all the places) has built its culture and have built the place over the years.
It becomes the goverments responsibility to safeguard the inetrests of its citizen bylaw. We have witnessed many faces of the terrorism and we have paid unexpectedly for it. It has left inimmitable scars on the life of people who has lost nothing but all. Still life moves on in a desperate anticipation. Everytime we confront it and we think that may be it will never resurface and we move on only to confront it again. Mumbai is one among such cities in India.
Sometimes our intelligence department fails to take proper action and it happens and sometimes terrorist action beyond our imagination and disrupt our day to day life costing us something which we never thought of. On Occassions, it has been seen as result of poiltical repurcussion as well. Recently news channel have disclosed that it has taken a shape of communal revenge also (Example : Malegaon Blast). Its true that the terrorism happening in and around the world is beyond the control of any agency or government. But if we, as an united force, stand in front of it then it is possible to reduce it by miles. Having said "WE" I meant every citizen of india and especially the politicians.
The incident which irks me the most is regionalism which has spread even faster than a virus in our country and has been most evident in maharashtra. I believe everyone remembers the violence during a railway exam in Mumbai. Such incidents are worse than a terrorist attack as they come unexpectedly from within.
I am settled in Bangalore and am staying here since January 2005. I have been denied basic amneties and services here by the departments of state goverment just because I have come here from a different state. (Examples: I cannot get Ration Card despite having ration card surrender certificate from my native town. and many other incidents. But I fought for my rights and have got all those things which I should have got as a citizen of India.) And every 5th person has to face it if he has migrated to some other state. especially to East India, South India and to Mahrashtra. The regionalism is quite prominet in these states and I can bet that at one point or other each of you would have faced it.
To the best of my memory I remember A Tamil family ( Whom I knew since i was 4 yrs old) who were the closest family friend of ours. My neighbour for about 15 yeras was a family from kerala. The first word I learnt from a language which I did not know was a Tamil word - "AIYAYO" and that too about 20 years back. I have never heard a single incident of someone from other states being harassed at least in UP and Bihar.
I believe and even you know that everyone has similar rights irrespective of the state he is living or migrating. Such incidents have become common even though we all know this . All we do is - we impose everything on the migrants and we blame them for all the worse things happening.
I can Just say - Stop Regionalism !! Dont get divided just beacuse of shreud interest. Stand United and Be Aware !! Thease are the only way we can save ourselves and will help to stop any mishap to happen.
Incident like these are not sensible enough to differentiate the Caste/Community/State. It engulfs eveyrone.
Timeline Of Mumbai Events:
Below are the listing of events which has rocked Mumbai time and again:
On 11 August 1893 - a serious communal riot took place between the Hindus and Muslims, when a Shiva temple was attacked by Muslims in Bombay. 75 people were killed and 350 were injured.
In the early 1960s, the Gujarati and Marwari communities owned majority of the industry and trade enterprises in the city, while the white-collar jobs were mainly sought by the South Indian migrants to the city.
The Shiv Sena party was established on 19 June 1966 by Bombay cartoonist Bal Thackeray, out of a feeling of resentment about the relative marginalization of the native Marathi people in their own state Maharashtra. In the 1960s and 1970s, Shiv Sena cadres became involved in various attacks against the South Indian communities, vandalising South Indian restaurants and pressuring employers to hire Marathis. During the 1970 Bombay-Bhiwandi riots, many Muslim places of worship were attacked by Shiv sena activists. During the 1970s coastal communication increased between Bombay and south western coast of India, after introduction of ships by the London based trade firm Shepherd. These ships facilitated the entry of Goan and Mangalorean Catholics to Bombay.
The Great Bombay Textile Strike was called on 18 January 1982 by trade union leader Dutta Samant, where nearly 250,000 workers and more than 50 textile mills went on strike in Bombay. On 17 May 1984 - Riots broke out in Bombay, Thane, and Bhiwandi after a saffron flag was placed at the top of a mosque. 278 were killed and 1,118 were wounded. In December 1992 - January 93 - over 1,000 people were killed and the city paralyzed by communal riots between the Hindus and the Muslims caused by the destruction of the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya. A series of 13 co-ordinated bomb explosions took place in Bombay on 12 March 1993, which resulted in 257 deaths and 700 injuries. The attacks were believed to be orchestrated by mafia don Dawood Ibrahim in retaliation for the Babri Mosque demolition. In 1996, the newly-elected Shiv Sena-led government renamed the city of Bombay to the native name Mumbai, after the Koli Goddess Mumbadevi. Soon colonial British names were shed to reassert local names, like the Victoria Terminus was renamed the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus on 4 March 1996, after the 17th century Marathi King Shivaji.
The 21st Century MumbaiThe city suffered several terrorist attacks and xenophobic attacks on North Indians during the 21st century.
6 December 2002 - Mumbai bus bombing - a bomb placed under a seat of an empty BEST (Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport) bus exploded near Ghatkopar station in Mumbai. Around 2 people were killed and 28 were injured. The bombing occurred on the tenth anniversary of the demolition of the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya.
27 January 2003 Mumbai Bombing - bomb placed on a bicycle exploded near the Vile Parle station in Mumbai. The bomb killed 1 and injured 25. The blast occurred a day ahead of the visit of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the then Prime Minister of India to the city.
13 March 2003 Mumbai train bombing - bomb exploded in a train compartment, as the train was entering the Mulund station in Mumbai. 10 people were killed and 70 were injured. The blast occurred a day after the tenth anniversary of the 1993 Bombay bombings.
28 July 2003 Mumbai bus bombing - bomb placed under a seat of a BEST bus exploded in Ghatkopar. The bomb killed 4 people and injured 32.
25 August 2003 Mumbai bombings - two blasts in South Mumbai - one near the Gateway of India and the other at Zaveri Bazaar in Kalbadevi occurred. At least 44 people were killed and 150 injured. No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but it had been hinted that the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba was behind the attacks.
The Maharashtra floods of 2005 - The city received 37 inches (940 millimeters) of rain in 24 hours — the most any Indian city has ever received in a single day. Around 83 people were killed.
11 July 2006 Mumbai train bombings and - 209 People were killed and over 700 were injured.
2008 attacks on North Indians in Maharashtra - the city experienced xenophobic attacks by the activists of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) under Raj Thackeray on the North Indian migrants in Mumbai. Attacks included assault on North Indian taxi drivers and damage of their vehicles.
Message:
We can survive and we can be safe -
1) If we take initiative towards awareness.
2) If we can really differentiate The Right & The Wrong and act accordingly !!
3) If we understand our responsibilty towards our Society, culture & Nation.
4) If we think of others as a human with similar rights and
5) If we can start thinking......
