and/or www.mantra.com/jai (Dr. Jai Maharaj)
2011-07-14 03:13:25 UTC
Forwarded message from V. K.
Terrorist target in Mumbai: Gujarati merchants
While the blasts were intended to impact India as a nation, the
terrorists specifically chose the three targets.
Opera House and Zaveri Bazar are locations where Gujarati merchants,
including diamond merchants work.
Kabootar Khana, the pigeon shelter in Dadar is also frequented by
merchants, many of them Jain, who feed the pigeons, although it is a
Marathi dominated area.
It was the Gujarati merchants who were targeted in the Mumbai train
bombings in 2006. The bombs in the train were placed to specifically
target them.
See article below.
The diamond merchants who lost their lives
By Vaihayasi P. Daniel in Mumbai
July 15, 2006 00:05 IST
Last Updated: July 15, 2006 09:21 IST
Mumbai's vigorous diamond district -- where the money that changes
hands daily contributes sizeably to India's Rs 75 billion ($1.66
billion) annual diamond trade -- spreads across just two or three
kilometres and encompasses a few buildings as well as the narrow,
crowded lanes that meander around the old Opera House in south
Mumbai.
The diamond industry's key players have plush offices in the
expansive, but rather unelegant Panchratna building, the headquarters
of the trade, situated right opposite the Western Railway line or at
the adjoining Prasad Chambers and Swastik Cinema. Floor after floor
of offices, some 1,000 or so, each barricaded with grilled, double-
locked heavy doors and guarded by a private watchman are located
here.
India's largest diamond exporters -- like Kiah that belongs to
Sheetal Diamonds or Aura belonging to Rosy Blue Group -- showcase
their stones at stores not far from this neighbourhood. On Tuesday,
July 11, eleven diamond brokers, according to Navinchandra Mehta,
president of the Mumbai Diamond Merchants Association, died in the
serial train blasts. News agencies cite 15. An estimated 50 to 60
people were injured.
Casualty lists hang at the entrance to the Panchratna building. But
none of these folk were the hotshot diamond merchants who bring loads
of prosperity to Panchratna building. Most of them didn't have MDMA
membership cards -- that cost in the region of Rs 25,000-- to enter
the building nor did they own offices in this locality.
Freelance brokers -- like the 15 who tragically perished on 7/11 --
are the foot-soldiers of the trade. If they own passes (MDMA has
12,000 members), they then have a right to enter the three jam-
packed diamond halls located in Panchratna. They arrive by 10.30 am
at Opera House and spend the whole day trading stones at the halls
till the light dies on them and diamonds can no longer be
scrutinised.
Others, without passes, do their trade right on the street. Hundreds
of freelance brokers, carrying nothing but white-paper-wrapped
packets of diamonds and an eye glass stand in the driveway running
up to Panchratna cutting deals till dayend in the shadow of Roxy
Cinema where Krrish is presently playing.
Says Bharat N Radia, secretary to the Mumbai Diamond Merchants
Association, "They probably earn Rs 8,000 to Rs 12,000 a month. They
often carry their diamonds tucked in packets even when they travel on
the train. Their income does not afford them the fancy flats in
Malabar Hill here so many successful diamond merchants live. Most of
them -- and there are anywhere from 25,000 to 100,000 of them at
Opera House on a given day -- live in very modest homes from
Goregaon, northwest Mumbai, and Virar, a satellite township of
Mumbai, and commute on the local train into Mumbai every day. Some of
them share flats and leave their families back in Gujarat.
Work finishes at about 6 pm and they climb onto trains headed to the
suburbs from Charni Road station and that was how 15 of them became
casualties on Tuesday.
Life stopped for about an hour in this busy district on Friday, July
14, as about 2,000 -- mostly Gujarati-speaking -- diamond brokers
congregated in one of the diamond halls at Pancharatna for a shok
sabha or condolence meeting for their 15 lost colleagues. Top
merchants chaired the meeting.
Said Mukesh Shah, secretary of the association in Gujarati, "We have
to help these families who have either lost a putra (son) or a pati
(husband) or a pita (father)." The Association promised Rs 100,000 to
each member's family. The Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council
also offered Rs 100,000 to families of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to
the injured.
Most speeches focused on the fact that the blast showed up their
industry's vulnerability and how the need of the hour was to tighten
security in the Opera House area. Praveen Shankar Pandya of the Gem
and Jewellery Export Promotion Council said, "We know the kind of
security diamond merchants work under abroad. Till now we have been
very casual about our security imagining that we live in some Ram
rajya (reign of paradise). But this will have to change to secure
jaan and maal (life and goods)." An agency called Matrix, that
handles Reliance Industries security has been called in to look at
the diamond trade's requirements, he said.
Jeweller Bharat Shah, one of the industry's most high profile but
controversial merchants, also made a speech calling for unity.
Chandrakant D Gandhi of Sunraj, sitting next to this rediff.com
reporter looked at the photographs of the deceased brokers and said
sadly, "They all used to come up to my office for work. Very
reliable people."
End of forwarded message from V. K.
Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
Om Shanti
o Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used for the educational
purposes of research and open discussion. The contents of this post may not
have been authored by, and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the
poster. The contents are protected by copyright law and the exemption for
fair use of copyrighted works.
o If you send private e-mail to me, it will likely not be read,
considered or answered if it does not contain your full legal name, current
e-mail and postal addresses, and live-voice telephone number.
o Posted for information and discussion. Views expressed by others are
not necessarily those of the poster who may or may not have read the article.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted material the use of
which may or may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright
owner. This material is being made available in efforts to advance the
understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic,
democratic, scientific, social, and cultural, etc., issues. It is believed
that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title
17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without
profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included
information for research, comment, discussion and educational purposes by
subscribing to USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more information
go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article for purposes of
your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the
copyright owner.
Since newsgroup posts are being removed
by forgery by one or more net terrorists,
this post may be reposted several times.
Terrorist target in Mumbai: Gujarati merchants
While the blasts were intended to impact India as a nation, the
terrorists specifically chose the three targets.
Opera House and Zaveri Bazar are locations where Gujarati merchants,
including diamond merchants work.
Kabootar Khana, the pigeon shelter in Dadar is also frequented by
merchants, many of them Jain, who feed the pigeons, although it is a
Marathi dominated area.
It was the Gujarati merchants who were targeted in the Mumbai train
bombings in 2006. The bombs in the train were placed to specifically
target them.
See article below.
The diamond merchants who lost their lives
By Vaihayasi P. Daniel in Mumbai
July 15, 2006 00:05 IST
Last Updated: July 15, 2006 09:21 IST
Mumbai's vigorous diamond district -- where the money that changes
hands daily contributes sizeably to India's Rs 75 billion ($1.66
billion) annual diamond trade -- spreads across just two or three
kilometres and encompasses a few buildings as well as the narrow,
crowded lanes that meander around the old Opera House in south
Mumbai.
The diamond industry's key players have plush offices in the
expansive, but rather unelegant Panchratna building, the headquarters
of the trade, situated right opposite the Western Railway line or at
the adjoining Prasad Chambers and Swastik Cinema. Floor after floor
of offices, some 1,000 or so, each barricaded with grilled, double-
locked heavy doors and guarded by a private watchman are located
here.
India's largest diamond exporters -- like Kiah that belongs to
Sheetal Diamonds or Aura belonging to Rosy Blue Group -- showcase
their stones at stores not far from this neighbourhood. On Tuesday,
July 11, eleven diamond brokers, according to Navinchandra Mehta,
president of the Mumbai Diamond Merchants Association, died in the
serial train blasts. News agencies cite 15. An estimated 50 to 60
people were injured.
Casualty lists hang at the entrance to the Panchratna building. But
none of these folk were the hotshot diamond merchants who bring loads
of prosperity to Panchratna building. Most of them didn't have MDMA
membership cards -- that cost in the region of Rs 25,000-- to enter
the building nor did they own offices in this locality.
Freelance brokers -- like the 15 who tragically perished on 7/11 --
are the foot-soldiers of the trade. If they own passes (MDMA has
12,000 members), they then have a right to enter the three jam-
packed diamond halls located in Panchratna. They arrive by 10.30 am
at Opera House and spend the whole day trading stones at the halls
till the light dies on them and diamonds can no longer be
scrutinised.
Others, without passes, do their trade right on the street. Hundreds
of freelance brokers, carrying nothing but white-paper-wrapped
packets of diamonds and an eye glass stand in the driveway running
up to Panchratna cutting deals till dayend in the shadow of Roxy
Cinema where Krrish is presently playing.
Says Bharat N Radia, secretary to the Mumbai Diamond Merchants
Association, "They probably earn Rs 8,000 to Rs 12,000 a month. They
often carry their diamonds tucked in packets even when they travel on
the train. Their income does not afford them the fancy flats in
Malabar Hill here so many successful diamond merchants live. Most of
them -- and there are anywhere from 25,000 to 100,000 of them at
Opera House on a given day -- live in very modest homes from
Goregaon, northwest Mumbai, and Virar, a satellite township of
Mumbai, and commute on the local train into Mumbai every day. Some of
them share flats and leave their families back in Gujarat.
Work finishes at about 6 pm and they climb onto trains headed to the
suburbs from Charni Road station and that was how 15 of them became
casualties on Tuesday.
Life stopped for about an hour in this busy district on Friday, July
14, as about 2,000 -- mostly Gujarati-speaking -- diamond brokers
congregated in one of the diamond halls at Pancharatna for a shok
sabha or condolence meeting for their 15 lost colleagues. Top
merchants chaired the meeting.
Said Mukesh Shah, secretary of the association in Gujarati, "We have
to help these families who have either lost a putra (son) or a pati
(husband) or a pita (father)." The Association promised Rs 100,000 to
each member's family. The Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council
also offered Rs 100,000 to families of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to
the injured.
Most speeches focused on the fact that the blast showed up their
industry's vulnerability and how the need of the hour was to tighten
security in the Opera House area. Praveen Shankar Pandya of the Gem
and Jewellery Export Promotion Council said, "We know the kind of
security diamond merchants work under abroad. Till now we have been
very casual about our security imagining that we live in some Ram
rajya (reign of paradise). But this will have to change to secure
jaan and maal (life and goods)." An agency called Matrix, that
handles Reliance Industries security has been called in to look at
the diamond trade's requirements, he said.
Jeweller Bharat Shah, one of the industry's most high profile but
controversial merchants, also made a speech calling for unity.
Chandrakant D Gandhi of Sunraj, sitting next to this rediff.com
reporter looked at the photographs of the deceased brokers and said
sadly, "They all used to come up to my office for work. Very
reliable people."
End of forwarded message from V. K.
Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
Om Shanti
o Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used for the educational
purposes of research and open discussion. The contents of this post may not
have been authored by, and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the
poster. The contents are protected by copyright law and the exemption for
fair use of copyrighted works.
o If you send private e-mail to me, it will likely not be read,
considered or answered if it does not contain your full legal name, current
e-mail and postal addresses, and live-voice telephone number.
o Posted for information and discussion. Views expressed by others are
not necessarily those of the poster who may or may not have read the article.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted material the use of
which may or may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright
owner. This material is being made available in efforts to advance the
understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic,
democratic, scientific, social, and cultural, etc., issues. It is believed
that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title
17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without
profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included
information for research, comment, discussion and educational purposes by
subscribing to USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more information
go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article for purposes of
your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the
copyright owner.
Since newsgroup posts are being removed
by forgery by one or more net terrorists,
this post may be reposted several times.