Bombay Explosion (1944)

The Bombay Explosion (or Bombay Docks Explosion) occurred on April 14, 1944, in the Victoria Dock of Bombay (now Mumbai) when SS Fort Stikine carrying a mixed cargo of cotton bales, gold, ammunition including around 1,400 tons of explosive caught fire and was destroyed in two giant blasts, scattering debris, sinking surrounding ships and killing around 800 people.The SS Fort Stikine was a 7142 gross ton freighter built in 1942 in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, under a lend-lease agreement.

Sailing from Birkenhead on February 24 via Gibraltar, Port Said and Karachi, she arrived at Bombay on April 12.

The ship carried

• explosives
• munitions
• Spitfires
• raw cotton bales
• oil barrels
• timber
• scrap iron
• gold bullion in 12.73 kg bars valued at £1–2 million.

One officer described the cargo as “just about everything that will either burn or blow up”. The vessel berthed and was still awaiting unloading on April 14.

• In the mid-afternoon around 14.00, the crew were alerted to a fire onboard.
• Burning somewhere in the No. 2 hold, the crew, dockside fire teams and fireboats were unable to extinguish the conflagration, despite pumping over 900 tons of water into the ship, or find the source due to the dense smoke.
• At 15.50 the order to abandon ship was given, and sixteen minutes later there was a great explosion, cutting the ship in two and breaking windows over 12 km away.
• The two explosions were powerful enough to be recorded by seismographs at the Colaba Observatory in the city.
• Around two square miles were ablaze in an 800-metre arc around the ship, eleven neighbouring vessels were sunk or sinking, and the emergency personnel at the site suffered heavy losses.

• Attempts to fight the fire were dealt a further blow when a second explosion from the ship swept the area at 16.34.

• It was that time of World War II when Japan was advancing fast and had almost reached Burma. An attack on India was highly expected any time. Away from the docks, people suspected a Japanese attack and many fled the city.
  • It took three days to bring the fire under control, and later 8,000 men toiled for seven months to remove around 500,000 tons of debris and bring the docks back into action.
  • The official death toll was 740, including 476 military personnel, with around 1,800 people injured; unofficial tallies run much higher.
  • In total, twenty-seven other vessels were sunk or damaged in both Victoria dock and the neighbouring Prince’s Dock.
  • Many families lost all their belongings and were left with just the clothes on their back.
  • The government took full responsibility for the disaster and monetary compensation was paid to citizens who made a claim for loss or damage to property.
  • During normal dredging operations carried out periodically to maintain the depth of the docking bays one or two gold bars were found intact sporadically as late as the 1970s and returned to the British government.
  • Once in every few years, gold bricks are recovered from Mumbai harbour, reminding everyone of the great tragedy, even after six decades of the incident.
  • Mumbai Fire Brigade’s headquarters at Byculla has a memorial built in the memory of numerous fire fighters who died during this explosion.

Bombay Times

The Bombay Times is a free supplement of The Times of India, in the Mumbai (formerly Bombay) region.

It covers celebrity news, news features, international and national music news, international and national fashion news, lifestyle and feature articles pegged on news events both national and international that have local interest value. The main paper covers national news. Over ten years of presence, it is has become a benchmark for the Page 3 social scene.

It is known for frothy coverage of parties, lifestyle events and feature stories in the city of Mumbai. At worst, certain disgruntled critics dismiss it as a paper that “isn’t serious”, but its popularity and brand value among its target audience is undeniable. The front page of the paper is one of the most eagerly-read pages in the city of Mumbai.

Recently, it included feature stories which were sponsored by paying clients sponsors with legitimate approval of the organization. This speaks of the brand value of Bombay Times, where even big brands have to pay to get their names mentioned in the paper. The Times of India – and thereby the Bombay Times – are market leaders in terms of circulation. That being said, the Bombay Times is also popular for its entertainment, as most of its articles are not based on fact, but creative persuasion and a great sense of humor.

Stories, photographs and short mentions (even within stories) can be legitimately purchased from the Times Group via Medianet, a Group department that specialises in PR-print marketing and sales. It’s rate card is freely available from their offices.

SRIKRISHNA REPORT

CONTENTS

1) Hindutva’s role in riots and official complicity 

2) Anti-minority bias in the Indian Police 

3) Publishers Note : Who’s afraid of the Srikrishna Commission Report?

4) Introduction : The ‘retaliation’ myth shattered

5) Volume I : Main Findings and Recommendations

6) Volume II : The Evidence

7) Response : Memorandum of Action (ATR) taken by Shiv Sena-BJP government on the report of The Commission of Inquiry

8) Annexure : Extracts from the report of the Justice D.P. Madon

Commission of Inquiry into the communal disturbances at Bhiwandi, Jalgaon and 

Mahad in May 1970

Bombay Riots

Although numerous riots have occurred in the City of Mumbai, India (Bombay) since Independence, the Bombay Riots usually refers to the riots in Mumbai, in December 1992 and January 1993, in which 900 people died. This was followed by the 12 March 1993 Bombay Bombings, allegedly orchestrated by ganglord Dawood Ibrahim and his D-Company syndicate, in which 250 people died.

The riots started as a result of communal tension prevailing in the city after the Babri Mosque demolition on 6 December 1992. It is commonly believed that the riots occurred in two phases. The first was mainly a Muslim backlash as a result of the Babri Masjid demolition in the week immediately succeeding 6 December 1992 by Hindu nationalists in the city of Ayodhya.

The second phase was a Hindu backlash occurring as a result of the killings of Hindu Mathadi Kamgar (Workers) by Muslims in Dongri (an area of South Mumbai). This phase occurred in January 1993 (most incidents reported between 6 January to 20 January).

Overall around 900 people were killed in these riots. Arson, killings and the destruction of property occurred in distinctively different kinds of areas. The areas of Pydhonie, Dongri, Agripada, Gamdevi, V.P.Road, Byculla, Bhoiwada, Nagpada, Kherwadi, Nehru Nagar, Dharavi, Ghatkopar, Kurla, Deonar, Trombay, Bandra, Vakola and Jogeshwari were largely affected amongst others. Violence affected not only slums but also apartment blocks and chawls.

As a direct result of the riots a large number of Hindus migrated from Muslim majority areas to Hindu majority areas in the city and vice versa. The demographics of the city changed drastically on religious basis. Reports widely indicate more than 200,000 people (both Hindus and Muslims) fled the city or their homes during the time of the riots. A large number of them relocated back due to economic compulsions. However separation and mistrust between the people on religious grounds was widely believed and reported until more than a year after the riots.

The Mili Gazette an urdu eveninger says that according to Shrikant Bapat, the then Police Commissioner of Bombay said that the first phase of the riots started near Kadaria Masjid in Dharavi when incident of stone pelting was reported while a “Victory” cycle rally was taken out on the evening of December 6

Justice Srikrishna, then a relatively junior Judge of the Bombay High Court, accepted the task of investigating the causes of the riots, something that many of his colleagues had turned down^{[citation needed]}. For five years till 1998, he examined victims, witnesses and alleged perpetrators. Detractors came initially from left-secular quarters who were wary of a judge who was a devout and practicing Hindu^{[citation needed]}. The Commission was disbanded by the Shiv Sena led government in January 1996 and on public opposition was later reconstituted on 28 May 1996; though when it was reconstituted, its terms of reference were extended to include the Mumbai bomb blasts that followed in March 1993.

The report of the commission stated that the tolerant and secular foundations of the city were holding even if a little shakily. Justice Srikrishna indicted those he alleged as largely responsible for the second phase of the bloodshed and to some extent, the first—the Shiv Sena.

The report was criticized as “politically motivated”. For a while, its contents were a closely guarded secret and no copies were available. The Shiv Sena-government rejected its recommendations. Since under the Commissions of Inquiry Act, an Inquiry is not a court of law (even if it conducts proceedings like a court of law) and the report of an inquiry is not binding on Governments, Srikrishna’s recommendations cannot be directly enforced. Till date, the recommendations of the Commission have neither been accepted nor acted upon by the Maharashtra Government. Many indicted policemen were promoted by the government and indicted politicians continue to hold high political office even today.