Mumbai in Independent India (20th and 21th century)
Independent India
20th century
After the Partition of India on 15 August 1947, over 100,000 Sindhi refugees from the newly created Pakistan were relocated in the military camps five kilometres from Kalyan in the Bombay metropolitan region. It was converted into a township in 1949, and named Ulhasnagar by the then Governor-General of India, C. Rajagopalachari.[160] In April 1950, Greater Bombay District came into existence with the merger of Bombay Suburbs and Bombay City. It spanned an area of 235.1 km2 (90.77 sq mi) and inhabited 23.39 lakhs of people in 1951. The Municipal Corporationlimits were extended up to Jogeshwari along the Western Railway and Bhandup along the Central Railway. This limit was further extended in February 1957 up to Dahisar along the Western Railway and Mulund on the Central Railway.[161] In the 1955 Lok Sabha discussions, when Bombay State was being re-organised along linguistic lines into the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat, there was a demand from the Congress, that the city be constituted as an autonomous city-state.[162] But the States Reorganisation Committee recommended a bi-lingual state for Maharashtra-Gujarat, with Bombay as its capital. However, the Samyukta Maharashtra movement opposed this, and insisted that Bombay be declared the capital of Maharashtra.[163] The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay was established in 1958 at Powai, a northern suburb of Bombay.[164] Following protests by the Samyukta Maharashtra movement in which 105 people were killed by police firing, Maharashtra State was formed with Bombay as its capital on 1 May 1960.[165] Flora Fountain was renamed Hutatma Chowk ("Martyr's Square") as a memorial to the Samyukta Maharashtra movement.[166][167]
In the early 1960s, the Gujarati and Marwaris communities owned majority of the industry and trade enterprises in the city, while the white-collar jobs were mainly sought by the South Indian migrants to the city. The Shiv Sena party was established on 19 June 1966 by Bombay cartoonist Bal Thackeray, out of a feeling of resentment about the relative marginalization of the native Marathi people in their native state Maharashtra. In the 1960s and 1970s, Shiv Sena cadres became involved in various attacks against the South Indian communities, vandalising South Indian restaurants and pressuring employers to hire Marathis.[168] In the late 1960s, Nariman Point and Cuffe Parade were reclaimed and developed.[169] During the 1970 Bombay-Bhiwandi riots, many Muslim places of worship were attacked by Shiv sena activists.[170] During the 1970s, coastal communication increased between Bombay and south western coast of India, after introduction of ships by the London based trade firm Shepherd. These ships facilitated the entry of Goan and Mangalorean Catholics to Bombay.[171]
Nehru Centre was established in 1972 at Worli in Bombay.[172] The Bombay Metropolitan Region Development Authority (BMRDA) was set up on 26 January 1975 by the Government of Maharashtra as an apex body for planning and co-ordination of development activities in the Bombay metropolitan region.[173] Nehru Science Centre, India's largest interactive science centre, was established in 1972 at Worli in Bombay.[174] In August 1979, a sister township of New Bombay was founded by City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) across Thane and Raigad districts to help the dispersal and control of Bombay's population.[175] The Great Bombay Textile Strike was called on 18 January 1982 by trade union leader Dutta Samant, where nearly 250,000 workers and more than 50 textile mills in Bombay went on strike.[176] On 17 May 1984, riots broke out in Bombay, Thane, and Bhiwandiafter a saffron flag was placed at the top of a mosque. 278 were killed and 1,118 were wounded.[177] The Jawaharlal Nehru Port was commissioned on 26 May 1989 at Nhava Sheva with a view to de-congest Bombay Harbour and to serve as a hub port for the city.[178] In December 1992 – January 93, over 1,000 people were killed and the city paralyzed by communal riots between the Hindus and the Muslims caused by the destruction of the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya.[179] A series of 13 co-ordinated bomb explosions took place in Bombay on 12 March 1993, which resulted in 257 deaths and 700 injuries.[180] The attacks were believed to be orchestrated by mafia don Dawood Ibrahim in retaliation for the Babri Mosque demolition.[181] In 1996, the newly-elected Shiv Sena-led government renamed the city of Bombay to the native name Mumbai, after the Koli Goddess Mumbadevi.[182][183] Soon colonial British names were shed to assert or reassert local names,[184] such as Victoria Terminus being renamed to Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus on 4 March 1996, after the 17th century Marathi King Shivaji.[185]
[edit]21st century
Main article: History of Mumbai during the 21st century
During the 21st century, the city suffered several bombings. On 6 December 2002, a bomb placed under a seat of an empty BEST (Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport) bus exploded near Ghatkopar station in Mumbai. Around 2 people were killed and 28 were injured.[186] The bombing occurred on the tenth anniversary of the demolition of the Babri Mosque inAyodhya.[187] On 27 January 2003, a bomb placed on a bicycle exploded near the Vile Parle station in Mumbai. The bomb killed 1 and injured 25. The blast occurred a day ahead of the visit of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the then Prime Minister of India to the city.[188] On 13 March 2003, a bomb exploded in a train compartment, as the train was entering the Mulund station in Mumbai. 10 people were killed and 70 were injured. The blast occurred a day after the tenth anniversary of the 1993 Bombay bombings.[189] On 28 July 2003, a bomb placed under a seat of a BEST bus exploded in Ghatkopar. The bomb killed 4 people and injured 32.[190] On 25 August 2003, two blasts in South Mumbai – one near the Gateway of India and the other at Zaveri Bazaar in Kalbadevioccurred. At least 44 people were killed and 150 injured. No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but it had been hinted that the Pakistan-basedLashkar-e-Toiba was behind the attacks.[191]
Mumbai was lashed by torrential rains on 26–27 July 2005, during which the city was brought to a complete standstill. The city received 37 inches (940 millimeters) of rain in 24 hours — the most any Indian city has ever received in a single day. Around 83 people were killed.[192] On 11 July 2006, a series of seven bomb blasts took place over a period of 11 minutes on the Suburban Railway in Mumbai at Khar, Mahim, Matunga, Jogeshwari,Borivali, and one between Khar and Santa Cruz.[193] 209 people were killed[194] and over 700 were injured.[195] According to Mumbai Police, the bombings were carried out by Lashkar-e-Toiba and Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).[196] In 2008, the city experienced xenophobic attacks by the activists of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) under Raj Thackeray on the North Indian migrants in Mumbai.[197] Attacks included assault on North Indian taxi drivers and damage of their vehicles.[198] There were a series of ten coordinated terrorist attacks by 10 armed Pakistani men using automatic weapons and grenades which began on 26 November 2008 and ended on 29 November 2008. The attacks resulted in 164 deaths, 308 injuries, and severe damage to several important buildings.[199] The city again saw a series of three coordinated bomb explosions at different locations on 13 July 2011 between 18:54 and 19:06 IST. The blasts occurred at the Opera House, Zaveri Bazaar, and Dadar,[200] which left 26 killed, and 130 injured.[201][202] The city's Wankhede Stadium was the venue for 2011 Cricket World Cup final, where India emerged as a champion for the second time after the 1983 Cricket World Cup.
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