https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=1970_Bhiwandi_riots1970 Bhiwandi riots - Revision history2026-07-31T21:22:40ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=1970_Bhiwandi_riots&diff=473060&oldid=prevAlberthaPickard at 15:11, 1 February 20262026-02-01T15:11:39Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Civil riot in Bhiwandi, India}}<br />
{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}<br />
{{Infobox civil conflict|place=[[Bhiwandi]], [[Jalgaon]] and [[Mahad]] ([[Maharashtra]], India)|date=7–8 May 1970|partof=[[Religious violence in India]]|damage=[[₹]]15.32 [[crore]]|side1b=[[File:Oil lamp.svg|27px]] [[Bharatiya Jana Sangh|Jana Sangh]]|detentions=324 Hindu and 2183 Muslim|casualties2=192 deaths|casualties1=37 deaths|side2b=[[File:Flag of the Indian Union Muslim League.svg|24px]] [[Indian Union Muslim League|IUML]]|side2a= [[Jamaat-e-Islami Hind|Jamaat-e-Islami]]|side1c=[[File:Logo of Shiv Sena.svg|24px]] [[Shiv Sena]]|side1a= [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh|RSS]]|title=1970 Bhiwandi violence|side2='''[[Muslims]]'''|side1='''[[Hindus]]'''}}<br />
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The '''1970 Bhiwandi riots''' were [[Religious violence in India|religious riots]] which occurred on 7 and 8 May in the Indian towns of [[Bhiwandi]], [[Jalgaon]] and [[Mahad]], between [[Hindus]] and [[Muslims]].{{sfn|Graff |Galonnier |2013|p=15-33}} The riots caused the deaths of over 250 people;{{sfn|Engineer|2003|p=8}} the Justice Madon commission, which investigated the riots, stated that 142 Muslims and 20 Hindus had been killed in Bhiwandi alone, and 50 Muslims and 17 Hindus in the surrounding areas.{{sfn|Graff |Galonnier |2013|p=15-33}} The commission strongly criticized the police for anti-Muslim bias in the aftermath of the riots, and also criticized the [[Shiv Sena]], a [[Hindutva|Hindu-nationalist]] political party, for its role in the violence.{{sfn|Hansen|2001|pp=74-75}}<br />
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== The riots ==<br />
There had been a prolonged period of tension between Indian Nationalist groups such as the [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]] (RSS), [[Bharatiya Jana Sangh]] and Shiv Sena, and the Muslim radical groups [[Jamaat-e-Islami Hind|Jamaat-i-Islami]], the [[Indian Union Muslim League|Muslim League]] and Majlis Tameer-e-Millat.{{sfn|Hansen|2001|p=74}} The [[Rashtriya Utsav Mandal]] had campaigned for permission to have a procession to celebrate the birthday of the [[Maratha clan system|Maratha]] warrior-King [[Shivaji]], which would pass through an area where the residents were predominantly Muslims, and by a mosque. Permission was given over the protests of Muslim leaders and on 7 May the procession began.{{sfn|Graff |Galonnier |2013|p=15-33}}<br />
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The procession was organised by Shiv Sena and supporters of the [[Hindutva|Hindu right]], who, it was reported, arrived armed with [[Fighting stick|lathis]]. Between 3,000 and 4,000 people had travelled from villages close to Bhiwandi, and once the procession began, some Muslims threw stones which triggered the violence. Once the violence began the police opened fire several times.{{sfn|Horowitz|2001|p=364}}{{sfn|Banerjee|2005|p=101}} {{sfn|Graff |Galonnier |2013|p=15–33}} An indefinite [[curfew]] was declared by the police at 10:00&nbsp;p.m. ([[Indian Standard Time|IST]]) that night. As violence ensued, fire engines and ambulances were brought in from [[Bombay]], [[Thane]], [[Ulhasnagar]], [[Kalyan (city)|Kalyan]], [[Ambarnath]] and other nearby places. ''[[The Indian Express]]'' reported that "knives and acid bulbs were freely used in the places".<ref>{{cite news|title=Curfew in town near Bombay: 10 die in riots|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=P9oYG7HA76QC&dat=19700508&printsec=frontpage&hl=en|access-date=12 February 2018|work=The Indian Express|date=8 May 1970}}</ref><br />
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Subsequently, a 24-hour curfew was imposed also in the neighbouring town of [[Jalgaon]], where 50 were reportedly injured by 8 May. The official figures put the total death toll at 21. The [[Indian Army]] was called in the same day to the two towns to bring the situation under control.<ref>{{cite news|title=Army Called Out in Maharashtra Town|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=2odlAAAAIBAJ&sjid=op4NAAAAIBAJ&pg=625%2C2904854|access-date=12 February 2018|work=The Indian Express|date=9 May 1970|page=1}}</ref> It was reported that towns returned to "normalcy" the following day.<ref>{{cite news|title=Riot towns limp to normalcy|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=24dlAAAAIBAJ&sjid=op4NAAAAIBAJ&pg=1784%2C2951411|access-date=12 February 2018|work=The Indian Express|page=1|date=10 May 1970}}</ref><br />
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== Aftermath ==<br />
Following the incident, the [[Indian government]] formed a Commission headed by Justice [[Dinshah Pirosha Madon]]. The final report from the commission ran to seven volumes and was highly critical of the police for their failure to prevent the riots, the report was also highly critical of Shiv Sena for their part in the violence.{{sfn|Engineer|2003|p=8}}<br />
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According to the Madon report, of those arrested during the violence, 324 were Hindu and 2,183 were Muslim.{{sfn|Robinson|2005|p=103}} The report was highly critical of the police, stating that their action showed a clear "anti-Muslim bias".{{sfn|Hansen|2001|p=75}} According to K. Jaishankar, of those arrested for clearly identifiable crimes during the violence in 1970, 21 were Hindu and 901 were Muslim, a figure disproportionate to the numbers of casualties (which Jaishankar gives as 17 Hindus and 59 Muslims).{{sfn|Jaishankar|2010|p=211}}<br />
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Economic costs for the riots in Bhiwandi, according to the Madon and police reports ran to {{INR}}{{formatnum:15320163}}. In Jalgaon, 112 Muslim properties and been attacked by [[arson]]ists, with 87 of these being razed to the ground. There was looting of 250 properties and another 28 had been damaged. Economic costs for the violence in Jalgaon ran to {{INR}}{{formatnum:3474722}} with the costs to Muslims being {{INR}}{{formatnum:3390997}}.{{sfn|Robinson|2005|pp=101–102}}<br />
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The commission gave a death toll of 164 in Bhiwandi alone, 142 Muslims and 20 Hindus, and in the nearby villages of [[Khoni, Maharashtra|Khoni]] and [[Nagaon Beach|Nagaon]] the commission stated that there had been 78 deaths, 17 Hindus and 50 Muslims.{{sfn|Graff |Galonnier |2013|p=15-33}}<br />
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==See also==<br />
*[[Hindu terrorism]]<br />
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==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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==Bibliography==<br />
{{refbegin}}<br />
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*{{cite book|last=Banerjee|first=Sikata|title=Make Me a Man!: Masculinity, Hinduism, and Nationalism in India|year=2005|publisher=State University of New York Press|isbn=978-0791463680}}<br />
*{{cite book|last=Engineer|first=Asgharali|title=The Gujarat Carnage|year=2003|publisher=Orient Blackswan|isbn=978-8125024965|editor=Asgharali Engineer|chapter=Introduction}}<br />
*{{cite journal|last1=Graff|first1=Violette|first2=Juliette |last2=Galonnier|title=Hindu-Muslim Communal Riots in India I (1947–1986)|journal=Online Encyclopedia of Mass Violence|year=2013|url=http://www.massviolence.org/Hindu-Muslim-Communal-Riots-in,736,|issn=1961-9898}}<br />
*{{cite book|last=Horowitz|first=Donald L.|title=The Deadly Ethnic Riot|year=2001|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0520224476|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/deadlyethnicriot00horo}}<br />
*{{cite book|last=Hansen|first=Thomas Blom|title=Wages of Violence: Naming and Identity in Postcolonial Bombay|year=2001|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-0691088402}}<br />
*{{cite book|last=Jaishankar|first=K.|title=International Handbook of Victimology|year=2010|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=978-1420085471|pages=182–213|editor1=Shlomo Giora Shoham|editor2=Paul Knepper|editor3=Martin Kett|chapter=Patterns of Communal Violence Victimization in South Asia}}<br />
*{{cite book|last=Robinson|first=Rowena|title=Tremors of Violence: Muslim Survivors of Ethnic Strife in Western India|year=2005|publisher=SAGE|isbn=978-0761934080}}<br />
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{{refend}}<br />
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{{Hindu Nationalism}}<br />
{{Riots in India}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhiwandi riots, 1970}}<br />
[[Category:Anti-Muslim riots in India]]<br />
[[Category:1970 murders in India]]<br />
[[Category:Riots and civil disorder in Maharashtra]]<br />
[[Category:May 1970 in Asia]]<br />
[[Category:1970 riots]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century political riots]]<br />
[[Category:Police misconduct in India]]<br />
[[Category:1970s in Maharashtra]]<br />
[[Category:Mass murders in Maharashtra]]<br />
[[Category:1970 mass murders]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century mass murders in India]]<br />
[[Category:Hinduism-motivated violence in India]]<br />
[[Category:Jamaat-e-Islami Hind]]<br />
[[Category:Indian Union Muslim League]]<br />
[[Category:Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]]<br />
[[Category:Shiv Sena]]<br />
[[Category:Bhiwandi]]<br />
[[Category:Jalgaon]]<br />
[[Category:Raigad district]]<br />
[[Category:Stone pelting in India]]<br />
[[Category:Political riots in India]]</div>AlberthaPickard