1982, February 15–18: Pune and Solapur (Maharashtra)

PUNE 80% Hindus, 9% Muslims

SOLAPUR 76% Hindus, 19% Muslims

Chief Minister of Maharashtra: Babasaheb Bhosale, Congress Party, January 1982–February 1983

Communal incidents took place in two cities, Pune and Solapur (Maharashtra), as a result of an aggressive VHP-led campaign that sought to awaken Hindus to the dangers of Islam, after the mass conversions that had been carried out at Meenakshipuram. Frightened Muslims adopted a low profile. On February 16, the VHP organized a procession through Pune, with the support of the Congress administration. It crossed Muslim neighborhoods, damaging Muslim shops and properties along the way. In the working-class town of Solapur, a VHP procession stopped near a mosque and shouted anti-Muslim slogans such as “Jalado Jalado Pakistan” (“Burn, Burn Pakistan”). Muslims there (not as passive as their coreligionists in Pune) retaliated by burning Hindu shops. Prompt action on the part of the administration brought the situation under control and limited the casualties.

**(Akbar, 1982); **(Secular Democracy, 03/1982); ***(Engineer, 1984b: 263–270)