Ranjona Banerji: The hatred we unleashed in 1992

I was not in Bombay as it was called then on December 6 1992 I was on holiday in Calcutta as it was called then when the rumours began and then we saw it on the BBC The Babri Masjid in Ayodhya had been demolished by kar sevaks as BJP stalwarts and the worlds media looked on some triumphant and some overjoyed Even as far away as I was that riots should break out in Bombay came as a tremendous almost personal shock My city where people lived together more harmoniously than anywhere else joined by a joint purpose of hard work and professionalism and just getting on with it A city where you could be yourself A city I grew up in so happily and innocently What a hoax that turned out to be one feltBabri Masjid was demolished by kar sevaks on December 6 1992 File picBy the end of that year I was back in Bombay but I soon realised that the worst was not over The atmosphere was charged with communal hatred Huge mahaaartis organised by the Shiv Sena outside temples kept the fans aflame People used the sort of language against religious minorities and Muslims in particular which was until then rare in polite society It was evident that matters were being brought to the boil once again And so it happened on January 6 1993 far more viciously disastrously and catastrophicallyWe all know that something changed for the worse in those months Although it seemed that Bombay found its spirit once again when it recouped instantly after the bomb blasts on March 12 1993 that was just a chimera It lulled us into inaction and apathy But the undercurrents of hatred bigotry and prejudice were now on the surfaceMany people like to pinpoint that moment on the change of name from Bombay to Mumbai It is a good use of a symbolic idea but it is too pat too obvious The change was clearly brewing within long before even if some of us were unaware of it Given the scale of violence from the Bombaywallah who was until then seen as politically apathetic and chronically selfobsessed earlier thoughts of willynilly harmony were patently falseIn spite of all the benefits brought to the city by liberalisation and growth that old Bombay has gone forever The city never recovered from what it had done to itself We did not realise it at first It was still an easy city to live in it was still relatively safer than other Indian cities it still had a liberal outlook on surface it was still more tolerant than other places The lowermiddleclass building complex where I lived in the suburbs showed the most amazing courage as rioters banged at our gates demanding that Muslim residents be handed over to them Today Muslims are not allowed to live in several such complexesAnd as time passed every attack on Mumbais sensibilities was tolerated The citys centre and its people were abused some thrown out of where they had lived for generations in the name of development and few cared The poor had to be moved out was the argument commonly heard because they had no business to be here The heart had gone out of Bombay anyway and who gave a hoot if the mill workers who built the city for instance were replaced by Mumbais mallsI watch closely as a few citizens try to fight for the trees of Aarey so close to where I once lived and then sometimes the doom and gloom lifts and I feel a little hope Living away from Mumbai for three years now and living in a small town with big city aspirations and every urban mistake being made do I miss it On an everyday basis I dont mdash I look at the mountains and tell myself that the sea is somewhere waiting for me But inside myself all the time I miss the Bombay that was and could be The Mumbai I left knowing I would not return And now on the 25th anniversary of the event that tore at the heart of India as much as my city I know that until we acknowledge the hatred that we unleashed we will remain in this miasma of prejudice bigotry and suspicion Look around youRanjona Banerji is a senior journalist You can follow her on Twitter ranjona Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomCatch up on all the latest Mumbai National and International news hereDownload the new midday Android and iOS apps to get updates on all the latest and trending stories on the go