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MumbaiWeekly Volume 01 Issue 19
MONDAY, 20 AUGUST 2012
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Two dead in Mumbai as protest turns violent
Indian Muslims block traffic and destroy public property in Mumbai on 11 August 2012. A protest called by Raza Academy, a Mumbai based Muslim organization suddenly turned violent leaving two people dead and several injured Shailesh Andrade / Mumbai Weekly (more images on page 3) Two persons died and 40 others were injured when a protest against Assam riots turned violent here in Mumbai turned violent on 11 August 2012. Demonstrators torched vehi-
cles, including media vans and pelted stones, leading the police to fire in the air and use batons to disperse the mob. The protest was called by a Mumbai based Muslim outfit, Raza
Academy, to denounce the riots in Assam and also the alleged attacks on Muslims in Myannmar gathered over thousands of people. The crowd according to the police suddenly turned
hostile and turned it‘s ire towards media persons beating up journalists grievously injuring a few. Police officials confirmed that they fired in the air and used batons to disperse the
crowd to restore order. The injured were taken to Government hospitals around the area. Confirmed reports later indicated that two people died while undergoing treatment at the St.
George Hospital in Mumbai. The police have ascertained the identity of the rioters and made various arrests over the last few days. Following the incident security was
stepped up in all sensitive areas while politicians from all over India appealed for calm. Due to the unrest suburban train services and road traffic were disrupted for some time.
At the time of publishing this article 22 police officials are still hospitalized and undergoing treatment. The cause of the violence is still being probed and arrests are still being made.
Freedom @ 65 The entire country celebrated 65 years of Independence on 15 August 2012. Official celebrations in Mumbai and Maharashtra were cancelled to mourn the death of former Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh who passed away a day earlier. Addressing the nation on Independence day Indian Prime minister on his ninth address from Red Fort New Delhi to the Nation said, lack of political consensus on many issues is affecting India's rapid economic growth. Manmohan Singh warned that national security would be hit if
the pace of economic growth did not increase, new investment was not encouraged, management of government finances was not improved, and energy security was not achieved. The Prime Minister covered an array of issues in his speech but much of it was focussed on Indian economy. Besides the global financial crisis, domestic developments were also hindering the growth of India's economy, he said, without specifying what the hiccups were. India's GDP grew by 6.5 percent last year, and "this year we hope to do a little better", he
said. The economist-turnedpolitician admitted that this year's poor monsoon would pose difficulties in controlling inflation. But Manmohan Singh assured the nation that the difficult days would not last long. "Even as we face problems, we should be encouraged by the fact that we have achieved extraordinary successes in many areas in the last eight years," he said, referring to the period since 2004 when he came to head a Congress-led coalition government.
A child sells Indian flag artifacts on a street in Mumbai on 15 August 2012. India celebrated it‘s sixty fifth independence year on this day. Shankar Narayan / Mumbai Weekly