Mumbai transformed after Ayodhya imbroglio

Mumbai: Mumbai is considered the ‘Urbs Prima in India’ – and rightly so. However, after the demolition of Babri structure in Ayodhya on 6 December, 1992 and the subsequent communal riots of December 1992-January 1993, changed the character of the financial capital of India.
Around the same time – the transformation of Bombay to Mumbai also gathered steam and the city witnessed the mills-to-malls change.
Veteran TV journalist and writer Jitendra Dixit – who is now churning books after books – once again brings a unique never-written-before commentary on the city.
The book – ‘Bombay after Ayodhya: A City in Flux’ tells the story of Mumbai of the past three decades – which is also the growing up years of Dixit and his career as a journalist.
“I was inspired to write this book by authors who witnessed the advent of gun culture in Kashmir in the 1990s and wrote about how the Valley changed as a result. I see parallels between Kashmir and Mumbai. The 1990s were tumultuous for both, and I grew up witnessing bloodshed on the streets of Mumbai as a result of communal riots, gang wars and terrorist attacks. In my view, the events triggered by the demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya has transformed Mumbai,” he said.
Dixit, now in his forties, and West India editor of a leading news channel goes on to add, “This transformation has affected every aspect of the city, including its politics, underworld, police, social fabric, real estate and so on. As a resident and as a journalist, I have witnessed this transformation firsthand and this book is my attempt at documenting it.”
After the two waves of Mumbai riots, the serial blasts of 12 March, 1993 shook Mumbai’s core and then followed the gang wars which spilled on the streets besides getting hit by natural calamities like the 26 July deluge of 2005, the train blasts of 2006 and the 26/11 fidayeen attacks in Mumbai.
“Bombay after Ayodhya chronicles how the past three decades have been a period of unexpected flux in Mumbai. In the aftermath of 1992, a split in the Mumbai underworld led to new equations in politics, which altered the demography of the city and led to the rise of new townships. After a brief lull, blasts and terrorist attacks rocked it once more in 2002, a cycle of violence that reached a crescendo with the horrific 26/11 terror attacks in 2008,’ says Dixit, whose karmaboomi remains Mumbai.
Along with key events and people that have shaped present-day Mumbai, Bombay after Ayodhya documents the change in the city’s character, from its physical appearance and civic issues, to its economy, real estate and politics.
“Bombay after Ayodhya recounts not just what happened in the immediate aftermath, but also how the event caused fundamental changes in the very character of the city. It documents the three decades in which Bombay/Mumbai became and remained a ‘city in flux’.
The best way I can think of to describe this book is as a biography of what is arguably India’s most dynamic, and resilient, city, through the eyes of a resident who has also been its relentless chronicler,” says Swati Chopra, Associate Publisher, HarperCollins India.(UNI)