1995 HAIR-TRIGGER

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When the flames died down, reducing the Sufi shrine of Charar-e-Sharif and some 200 buildings near it to a smouldering heap, it was 3 a.m. on May 11. Soon, under the cover of darkness, the 40 militants holed up in the shrine, including Pakistani commander ‘Major’ Mast Gul, escaped into town. In the close-quarter fighting that followed, 27 militants were killed with no civilian dead, but the incident set back the leader-ship by many steps on the hard road to normalcy.

RAIL OF BLOOD

ON August 20, the super fast Purushottam Express, traveling at over 100 kmph, collided with the stationary Kalindi Express near Ferozabad, killing 348 people, in the second worst rail disaster in the country’s history. The accident once again put the spotlight on the Railways’ shocking disregard for basic safety norms.

FIRST CUT

Mayawati, then a member of the Rajya Sabha, became Uttar Pradesh first Dalit chief minister on June 3. But she rode roughshod over the bureaucracy and the bjp, transferring officials placing Dalits in key posts, and accumulating corruption charges, until bjp withdrew support to bring her tumultuous 136-days rule to an end.

FUTURE CALLS

The mobile phone revolution came to India on September 27 as Hutchison Max Telecom became the first service provider to begin operations in the country.

DID YOU KNOW

On December 23, over 400—mostly children—died in a fire incident in the midst of a school function in Dabwali, Haryana. The shocking incident raised questions about fire safety conditions in India.

‘YES, I AM THE REMOTE CONTROL. WE NEED IT.”

Bal Thackeray Hindutva rode to power in Maharashtra as Shiv Sena and the bjp formed a coalition government. The man behind it all was Balasaheb Thackeray, forever enshrined in Salman Rushdie’s words as Raman Fielding aka Main duck, who wanted a golden age when “good Hindu men and women could roam free”. He ran the government by remote control and things began to change soon enough, with Bombay becoming Mumbai and the media subjected to cultural censorship.

COLOURFUL MOVES

For Urmila Matondkar, Rangeela was a case of real becoming reel and vice versa. A.R. Rahman’s slick soundtrack, Manish Malhotra’s new fashion sense, and Matondkar’s moves enthralled audiences as she announced herself to the world. She had found her makeover mantra and as a spate of copycats, flouncing peroxide curls and lycra twirls prowled the screens, Bollywood found a new definition of cool.

SHAH RUKH KHAN about competition in the Mumbai film industry

“In my opinion… I am the best.”

And the World Went Dark

A complete solar eclipse was seen over India on October 24 and was visible from Rajasthan to West Bengal. Some hailed the spectacle of astronomy. Others hid away in superstition. The last total eclipse was in 1980.

ELSEWHERE…

• 168 people, including eight federal marshals and 19 children, were killed at the Murrah federal Building in the Oklahoma City bombing. Timothy McVeigh and one of his accomplices, Terry Nichols, set off the bomb.
• Members of the Aum Shinrikyo religious cult released sarin nerve gas on five separate railway trains in Tokyo, killing 12 and injuring hundreds. Cult leader Shoko Asahara was arrested May 16.
• For the first time in 26 years, British soldiers stayed off the streets of Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Rs 1,500 crore was the estimated market worth of the exquisite jewels of the seventh Nizam of Hyderabad. After a protracted battle, the Indian Government finally acquired them for a paltry sum of Rs 218 crore.

Courtesy By India Today