Friday, October 26, 2007

Movie: Black Friday

I watched Black Friday recently. This post is only about story; movie no doublt is excellent, from all angles of movie making. It is based on a novel by the same name, and claims to tell the shocking truth behind the Mumbai bomb blasts. I have changed the sequence of the events, as the movie is based on the flash back mode. The only question remained is that the time line for the movie starts from the Karsevaks breaking the old mosque structure, and not from Babar's controversial destruction of Hindu and other temples. 

(From the movie…)

Volunteers from across the India, called Karsevaks, reached Ayodhya in thousands of numbers despite government's attempts to block their way. They broke the structure of the old mosque with their hands and hammers and constructed a small temple there. Country erupted in flames. There were religious riots, between Hindus and Muslims in many parts of India.

There were two major riots in Mumbai, one in December and other in January. The first one was natural, but the second one seemed to be propelled by politicians, a party to be precise. The casualties were majority amongst the minorities, of course in proportion with their population. But, what was shameful was that the police and the administration helped the majorities. Police were seen even shooting the minorities, who fled the city in large numbers in whatever train they could catch.

After the riots, a powerful group of mafia, and rich people funding them, belonging to the Muslim faith, met in Dubai, and discussed how their religion was "insulted". How it was now very difficult for the Muslims to live in India. They felt the need to "do something", something that can "terrorise" the majority Hindus, in their words, something because of whose terror, whenever a Hindu saw a Muslim, he won't dare to look into his eyes, and will wet his pants. Tiger proposed that Mumbai being the financial capital of India, would be targeted, and a serial blast across the prime locations will tell the whole world that the Muslims have taken revenge against the atrocities they suffered in the riots. Barriers of the Islamic flag, in the richness of Dubai, sealed the fate of India, and agreed to support and fund.

Tiger Memon was the individual with a large following in the city, plus he had the support of Dawood Ibrahim. His office was burnt in the last riots, and he wanted revenge. He formed his team. They brought in suppliers of RDX (called black soap, or kala sabun) and AK-56s to India by bribing custom officials and police. Selected persons were sent to Pakistan, where they received training under the personnel of Pakistani Army. They were brain washed by numerous stories of how Hindus raped their wives and daughters. The team waited to take their revenge, to teach lessons to the Hindus. They returned back, and according to the plans of Tiger Memon, they planted RDX across prime locations including Air India building, BSE stock exchange building, inside a bus, near a petrol pump and Dadar railway station. The bombs blasted at timed intervals. More than 300 innocent Indians were killed, and thousands injured.

The team went underground. Tiger Memon and his entire family had already shifted to Dubai a day before the proposed blasts. Mumbai police started enquiry under experienced and honest personnel. Police was ruthless; they got the suspects behind the bars, and in series of arrests got hold of some of the team members. They got their mouth opened. One after the other, police made headway, as their accumulated information about the blasts increased. The team members ran from Delhi to Jaipur to some towns in UP, to Kolkata and so on. But in the end, they were tracked and caught. Human rights activists protested, and the police's reply was: "What about the human rights of the 300 people who are dead in the blasts?" Most of the team members got caught. Tiger Memon remained out of sight. Several years after the blasts, court announced verdicts to the convicts.

The message from the movie: "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind: Mahatma Gandhi"

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