1990; October: Rajasthan

89% Hindus, 9% Muslims

Chief Minister of Rajasthan: B. S. Shekhawat, BJP, March 1990–December 1992

Troubles erupted in the state of Rajasthan. On October 3, in Udaipur, riots occurred when a Hindu Ram Jyoti procession (bearing the light of Ram) was stoned. A Hindu mob subsequently gathered to protest and demanded a ban on the Muslim Miladun Nabi (Prophet’s birthday) procession. A local rivalry between Hindu Sindhis (who came after Partition) and economically well-off Bohra Muslims was the underlying cause of the violence. One person was killed. In Jaipur (Rajasthan), violence took place after the Ram Rath Yatra of L. K. Advani was halted in the town of Samastipur (Bihar) on October 23. Advani was arrested and subsequently imprisoned in Masanjore. This event ignited several tows in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, and Rajasthan. In Jaipur, the BJP called for a bandh (general strike) and large numbers of people started gathering in the streets. The (false) rumor that Hindu children were held captive in a mosque in the Muslim-dominated Ramganj area sparked off riots. Houses were burned. Audio cassettes inciting people to violence could be heard in different parts of the city. Well-armed Hindu and Muslim groups fought with each other. The violence claimed around fifty lives. The Justice M. L. Tibrewal Commission of Inquiry denounced the unpreparedness of the police in these riots.

***(Engineer 1990a); ***(Mayaram 1993); ***(National Integration Council 2007: 60)