MAHARASHTRA- From Nationalism to Communalism -Transformation of Malegaon

MAHARASHTRA From Nationalism to Communalism Transformation of Malegaon Asghar Ali Engineer MALEGAON in Maharashtra witnessed one of the worst outbreaks of communal frenzy between June 26 and 30. This riot occurred within seven months of an earlier riot which had taken place there on November 20, 1982. The earlier riot had been precipitated by a controversy over allegedly insulting language used about the Prophet of Islam in an VIII standard Marathi text-book. The recent riot was sparked off by explosion of crackers outside the Jami'i Masjid (main mosque) at 10,30 pm on June 26, a day after the Indian cricket team's victory in the Prudential World Cup tournament.