Mumbai's Muslims and 'Friends'

The violence against the police and the media at the recent rally in Mumbai held by Muslims to protest the killing of Muslims in Assam and Myanmar took everyone by surprise. While the Mumbai police's remarkable restraint avoided a larger confl agration, it failed to anticipate the violence despite clear signs. Ever since the 1992-93 communal riots in Mumbai, fi rst the Congress Party and later the ationalist Congress Party have cultivated a few Muslim leaders who act as "brokers" and havehardly any grass-roots support within the community