REMEMBERING THE DDAY
Politicians and people from other walks of life look back on the day that divided the nation and sparked riots
MOHAMMED SALIM, CPI(M)
I was in my party office and frantically made calls to people at different places. I remember joint commissioner of Kolkata Police SI Ahmed called me to say if we could send DYFI (CPI-M’S youth wing) members in sensitive areas of Kolkata to reassure people. I still remember West Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu broke the shocking news over phone. Next day, Parliament saw an unprecedented uproar and the history of India changed forever.
MOHAN GURNANI Chairman, Chamber of Associations of Maharashtra Industry and Trade
I did not anticipate a demolition. Unlike now, there were no electronic media or news channels. In the night, we were struck by news of demolition. The next day, all industries and markets were closed. There were all kinds of rumours like retaliatory attacks. After that Mumbai was in flames as riots took place in a large scale. The divide between Hindus and Muslims was visible and trade suffered a huge blow.
ARVIND GANACHARI Professor, University of Mumbai
On that fateful day, I had come to the college. After one lecture, I got the news that Babri Masjid was being demolished. We discontinued the college and told all students and staff to go home. The riots started the very next day and when I was going to my college on my scooter, I was stopped midway by police and asked where I was going. When they came to know that I was going to Jogeshwari, a minority dominated area, they asked me, “Do you want to get killed?” After that there was frenzy everywhere.
ABHISHEK MANU SINGHVI, Congress
I was at my Delhi home and busy with work. I learnt about it much later when I turned on the TV. People around me, my staff, saw it as a major news. There was a palpable sense of fear and trepidation. When I went to the SC on December 8, the reactions were extreme, openly diverse and even crude. My first feeling was of betrayal of trust.
BHARTRUHARI MAHTAB, BJD
On that day, I was in my Prajatantra newspaper office and tracking the developments in Ayodhya. Although a huge mob gathered there I never expected that Babri Masjid would be demolished. I perhaps took the assurance of BJP leaders and the then Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao for granted that the kar sevaks would only hold a meeting. But when the kar sevaks barged into the restricted area, tension started building up. The demolition left me thunderstruck.
MOHAMMED IQTEDAR HUSAIN FAROOQI deputy director (retired), National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow
There was a wedding in our family around that time. That day, the news of demolition spread like wildfire across the city. Reports of clashes between two communities started coming in and curfew was imposed in old areas of Lucknow. The barat was to go to New Delhi. But as tension gripped in some parts of the country, a number of people dropped the idea.
DEREK O’BRIEN Trinamool Congress
I distinctly remember it was a Sunday. Every Sunday we would play amateur cricket. Our team won the toss and went out to bat. We were doing well. I always batted at number 6 or 7. I was going out to bat when I got the news of the Babri Masjid demolition. We didn’t have much news then, but the innings didn’t go well, and I was back in pavilion at the Calcutta
Cricket and Football Club in about 15 minutes. The pavilion had a television and we huddled around it to see the images. They are still etched in my memory.