What is referred to as the Mumbai Mafia is an organised body of criminals. Its actual size - and thus the extent of its influence - is unknown because it is the least heard-of internationally. The first of mafia elements, or syndicates, perhaps had their origins in the gambling and bootleg liquor dens set up by the infamous Pashtun Mafia member Karim Lala[1] in the 1940s. He was succeeded by Varadarajan Mudaliar, a Tamil migrant who arrived to Bombay along with an influx of south-Indian migrants. The increasing restrictions placed on the Indian economy by the socialist regimes of those days gave the Bombay underworld increasingly more means by which they could expand their activities. Ramabhai Naik in 1986 gunned down supari-king Karim Lala's nephew, the dreaded Samad Khan, and paved the way for Dawood Ibrahim. A colleague of his, who was placed in jail during the Indian Emergency (1975 - 77), Mastan Mirza, more famously known as Haji Mastan also played a key role in structuring illegal gambling as an organised business. After the collapse of the cotton mills based textile industry in Mumbai in the 1980s, many workers were left unemployed, furthering the environment for crime that already existed. Various underworld dons rose to power. As Mastan's influence in Bollywood grew, he began to produce films and cast his mistress, an aspiring starlet into small roles. He was also known for his links with the legendary actor Dilip Kumar. During the Indian Emergency (1975 - 77) he was imprisoned. Haji Mastan become as a Muslim leader in 1984. D-Company was formed by Dawood Ibrahim, an acolyte of Hajji Mastana, and a descendant of migrants from the Konkan coast. It was amongst the most powerful criminal organisations in the world in the 80s, with many illegal and legal business ventures under Dawood's control. His group eventually split up creating separate gang of Chotta Rajan, sometime during the mid-nineties due to his use of communal violence for personal gain. Where his mafia had previously been secular, it now broke up on communal lines. Soon after the Bombay riots, a series of blasts that took place in Bombay in 1993 and changed Bombay underworld completely, he was accused, both by former colleagues and the police, for orchestrating the blasts. It is thought that in an attempt to gain political support from religious radicals that would legitimise him as more than a crook, he collaborated with various terrorist organisations. This led to the fragmentation of his criminal empire when Chotta Rajan, his lieutenant, broke away and gained support of powerful right-wing Hindu Nationalist politicians. Soon after the bombings he was forced to flee the city (now renamed Mumbai) and the country. Dawood Ibrahim reportedly now lives in Karachi or Dubai, and controls what is left of D-Company from there. The last known public contact with him was when a Times reporter once interviewed Dawood in Karachi. The Indian Mafia in the meantime has spread to other parts of India and has diversified onto various activities. In Mumbai, with the adoption of new police policies, crime has been going down in Mumbai and the mafia has been forced to flee the city to safer havens. Many of its crime bosses operate from different parts of the world, controlling the Mafia within India.
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Mumbai underworld today
The underworld of Mumbai, the most populous city in India and capital of Maharashtra state, is a criminal network, which thrives on extortion, drugs and prostitution. The underworld is controlled by three or four major gangs, but most of them have been on the run from law recently. The underworld's activities are not just limited to organized crime. Many 'dons' are supposedly linked to the heart of India's entertainment industry, otherwise known as Bollywood. The main role played by the underworld is that of financing the productions, although some outfits aim to control the script content and other thematic elements of the plot. The Mumbai underworld today does not exist as one single gang, like the former D-Company, but rather as a collection of gangs which have formed from the parent gangs' split. Some are; Chotta Shakeel and Abu Salem gang (also known as D-Company), Chotta Rajan gang, Ejaz Lakdawala gang and Arun Gawli gang, as well as other gangs which have arisen recently. Drug trade still continues with other parts of the world from Mumbai, and the city still sees a lot of bloody shootouts between gang members and police.
Indian mafia in popular culture
In the 1970s, many of the most well known classic Bollywood movies were based around themes of fighting criminals and corruption at a time when crime was rising, and authorities were powerless. Classical Amitabh Bachchan films such as Zanjeer, Don, and Amar Akbar Anthony depicted the underworld and heroes trying to overcome it. The Indian mafia has also been depicted in several films by Ram Gopal Varma, including Company, Sarkar, and Satya, as well as in films such as Chandni Bar, Maqbool, and Salaam Bombay and Shootout at Lokhandwala. Most important inspired Tamil Film "Nayagan" acted by a south-Indian actor, Kamal Hassan. It was a very huge hit and represented how a Godfather should be. This is the only best Indian film in last century in TIME magazine. This movie represented Mumbai Don Varadha Bhai's life(Varadharaja Mudhaliar)
Bollywood connections
The Indian mafia is notoriously very heavily involved in the film industry, providing films with funding and using them as fronts for other activities. Although in recent times police investigations have forced mobsters to make their activities more subtle, for most of Bollywood's existence stars openly displayed their mafia connections, attending parties with mafia dons and using their help to gain new roles. [2]
See also
References
- ^ The Hindu, Karim Lala is dead, February 20 2002
- ^ BBC News - Analysis - Bollywood and the mafia http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3152662.stm
