Bombay After Ayodhya : A city in Flux

Jitendra Dixit grew up in Mumbai and has reported from the city for much of the three decades he writes about in this book.

The demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya on 6 December 1992 was followed by riots across India. Mumbai had always been susceptible to communal violence, but the violence in December 1992 and then again in January 1993 was unprecedented. Two months later, in March, serial blasts rocked the city, killing over 250 and injuring 700. Communal strife was followed by gang wars and natural calamities, all of which changed the city forever. Bombay after Ayodhya chronicles how the past three decades have been a period of unprecedented flux in Mumbai. In the aftermath of the riots, a split in the Mumbai underworld led to new equations in politics, which changed the demography of the city and led to the rise of new townships. After a brief lull, blasts and terrorist attacks rocked it once more in 2002, a cycle of violence that culminated in the horrific 26/11 attacks in 2008.