Mumbai Twenty years ago, no one would have imagined that one day Narayan Rane could muster any support in Bhendi Bazaar. On Wednesday, not a feather was ruffled as Ranes son Nitesh inaugurated a branch of Swabhimaan, his voluntary organisation,
in Yakub Galli, right in Dawood Ibrahims backyard.
Yakub Galli is behind Pakmodia Street, where Dawood grew up and operated from. On Wednesday, a crowd of 250 also had a belated celebration of Niteshs birthday, which fell on Monday.
Most of these were jobless youths who joined the organisation for immunity from police action.
Several Swabhimaan members have police cases pending against them, observed Akhtar Shaikh, a social worker from Santa Cruz.
Incidentally, Dawoods brother Iqbal Kaskar, too, celebrated his birthday at Pakmodia street on Wednesday.
In another case of coincidence, both Dawood and Rane are from Konkan, the hilly strip along Maharashtras coast.
Some political analysts believe that Rane has washed off his communal taint now that he is no more with the Shiv Sena.
The passage of time, they say, has also helped erase the bitterness of the 1992- 93 communal riots and serial blasts.
This was not the case a few years ago. On February 4, 1997, Shiv Sainik S M Khalid, a close associate of Narayan Rane ( then a Shiv Sena leader) was shot dead, allegedly at the behest of Chota Shakeel, shortly after he had announced his plans to open a Sena branch here.
Sena still does not have a branch in this Muslim- dominated area.
Today, residents of areas such as Bhendi Bazaar, Null Bazaar, Mohammed Ali Road, Dongri and Nagpada are not interested in any political ideology, said veteran activist Ayyub Ansari. The locals donalt39t follow political parties. These areas function even during a bandh or a riot, he added.
According to Mohammed Rafique, president of Swabhimaans Mumbadevi zone, the organisation will work to improve education and employment in its coverage area of Manish Market through to Nagpada.
Rafique is a ticket- checker with the Western Railway.
In the past two years, Swabhimaan has opened branches in many Muslimmajority areas including Kurla, Behrampada and Naupada in Bandra ( E), Bandra Reclamation, Shivaji Nagar, Govandi. It has positioned itself as the watchdog for Muslim leaders such as Baba Siddiqui, Arif Naseem Khan, Abu Azmi, Nawab Malik and Amin Patel.
Now, Swabhimaan is opening a branch in Mumbra as well.
TWENTY years ago, no one would have imagined that one day Narayan Rane could muster any support in Bhendi Bazaar. On Wednesday, not a feather was ruffled as Ranes son Nitesh inaugurated a branch of Swabhimaan, his voluntary organisation, in Yakub Galli, right in Dawood Ibrahims backyard.
