Radhabai becomes a flash point, again

MUMBAI, August 6: Five years later Radhabai Chawl once again proved to be a flash point. In his report Justice Srikishna has held some Ma...

MUMBAI, August 6: Five years later Radhabai Chawl once again proved to be a flash point. In his report Justice Srikishna has held some Marathi newspapers responsible for sensationalising the January 8, 1993 Radhabai Chawl massacre, in which six people were burnt to death by an angry mob.

The report has identified Shiv Sena mouth-piece Saamna and Navakaal as two newspapers guilty of presenting an exaggerated account of the killings.

Responding to this chief minister Manohar Joshi came down heavily on the commission. “Though it was such a horrifying, cruel and gruesome incident in which six persons were charred to death, the commission did not acknowledge it with adequate gravity and on the contrary, blamed some parties for inciting religious frenzy…” he said, refusing to accept the conclusions drawn by the commission.

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The other objection raised by Joshi was that while the commission had censured the Marathi media, it had completely ignored Urdu newspapers. Joshi said the commission hadnot even even acknowledged the communally inciting writing in Urdu newspapers.

He said the commission had also ignored the provocative statements made by prominent Muslim leaders, “It is improper to blame only one group in such a surcharged atmosphere when leaders from both the communities were hurling invectives at each other,” Joshi added. He was of the opinion that a large number of Hindu killings – ghastly murders of Mathadi workers and blood curdling incident of Radhabai chawl – had led to a spontaneous wave of anger among the Hindus and to the second phase of riots.