"There is a death dance over Hyderabad city which is set to celebrate its 400 years of chequered history. Pregnant women, children, old men and women are the innocent victims of the dangerous and insensitive game of politics. The mortuary is full. The city with the old-world charm is today a blood splattered landscape. One may well ask 'What price religion?'

The atmosphere is thick with tension, building up ever since a notorious criminal, Mohammed Sardar, was gunned down by the police in October. Beginning with stray incidents, the old city of Hyderabad has become a graveyard today. Violent attacks by mysterious gangs were the order of the day.

The main political players in the city are the Majlis Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen, the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Congress (I) and, in a smaller way, the Telugu Desam. The area is a Majlis stronghold and its president, Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi, wins with persistent regularity.

Meanwhile, a stubborn Chenna Reddy was alternately kowtowing to Congress high command and the dissidents.

The stabbing incidents continued, despite curfew during the tense days of the first Kar Seva. On December 7, in retaliation to an attack on Owaisi's man, Majid Khan, a horde descended on select targets in the region called Kulsumpura. Armed with daggers, axes and meat cleavers, the mob hacked to death the hapless inhabitants. A two-year old had been stabbed along with her mother and father, who died in hospital. No one knew who she was. 'Leader Aake photo Mein Girt a Ur Chale Jata. Kaun dekhega ab Isse?' (Leaders come and pose for photographs with her, but who will look after her?) The scene at the Osmania hospital was heart-rending. There were no beds left and medicines ran out. The mortuary was full and the corridor itself was filled with bodies. Even hardened policemen and experienced surgeons flinched at the sight of infants and pregnant women who would never breathe again.

The Pardhi- and cobbler shanties were attacked at night by a frenzied mob. One man narrated how he had pleaded with the attackers to spare his sister who was suckling a babe. He lost his sister and two of his nephews as well. Two women were burnt alive at Shakkarganj.

People do not trust the ability of any one to protect life Over 75 had been killed, and more bodies were being found every day.

The communities directly involved were the Muslims on one side and Harijans on the other."

(Source: The Illustrated Weekly of India, Bombay, 22 December 1990)

THE INDIAN EXPRESS Editorial, 10 December 1990

"The outbreak of communal rioting came in the heels of an intensification of Naxalite violence in the Telangana region Clearly, the Andhra Pradesh Police needs urgently to be strengthened. There is now a widespread impression in the state that Dr. Chenna Reddy is fast losing his grip on the administration and tough measures are needed at the political and administrative levels to prevent the state from sliding into chaos. Meanwhile, the fact that communal violence in Hyderabad has virtually coincided with the outbreak of similar trouble in the North, particularly Aligarh, once again underlines the alarming intensification and spread of communal hatred in the country and the grim prospect of further carnage if the situation is not contained immediately."

(Source: The Indian Express, New Delhi, 10 Dec 1990)