Haji Mastan- The don with kindness

BY Vaidehi Sachin
A Bollywood movie named Once upon a time in Mumbai has been released in Mumbai The film based on the life of Haji Mastan is produced by the soap opera queen Ekta Kapoor. It has Ajay Devgn and Emran Hashmi playing Haji Mastan and Dawood Ibrahim and the story rolls around the former who rises from a small time thief in Mumbai ports to become a king pin smuggler and a sensation in Mumbai. Later with most Muslim operatives in the crime world, Haji is probably coerced into joining politics and relocates to Delhi leaving his empire in Mumbai to a capable person Dawood. Another dreaded gangster is Karim Lala and Samad Khan who was eliminated in the very compound of the High court.

Times changed and so did the organized crime in Mumbai. Their businesses were extortion, smuggling, prostitution, black marketeering and even killing in instances. But there was a pattern in the good old days where there was a certain claimed respect and faith and honour of the word. But as real estate costs escalated the crime scene became more intricate and globalised with Drugs making a headway in back streets of Mumbai and every city of federal India. Moreover, the nexus grew rapidly as socialists and communists were eased out of their strong holds in working areas of Lalbaug and Parel with goons replacing and commanding respect more out of fear and subjugation and harassment rather that social service. Amar Naik, Ashwin Naik and Arun Gawli were calling the shots now from these areas which fed rank and file for the gangs with manpower.The nexus now involved the Bollywood which had yet to get an industry status being financed by hawala and black money makers from smuggling rings and drug cartels. This nexus grew larger and intricate with the involvement of zopadaptti dadas like Babu Reshim and Vardarajan Mudaliar. With the ability of some of these elements to mobilize vote banks the politicians were drawn into the underworld and encounter killings became routine with human right kicked out of shape and police officers becoming dreaded heroes like the Dons of the underworld.

Lay press practically carried daily story of the dons of the underworld and prepared the entertainment seekers to look forward to movies which highlighted hype and thrill of this out of bounds domain. Satya, Parinda, Vastaav, Ab tak Chappan are some of the movies which tried to depict the reign of dons in Mumbai. The word Don itself had roots in Don Corleone of Italian Mafia in Mario Puzos Novel 'The godfather'. Then terrorism slowly seeped into the crime scene with syndicates freely enlisting manpower across borders and region. Dawood was implicated in few such bomb blasts and very cleverly extradicated to middle east which is now the capital of crime world the shift have taken place because the politicians replaced  the local crime syndicates, playing their proxies. Suketu Mehta has brought out some of the politics behind the gang wars in his novel 'Maximum City'

At this juncture, it is necessary to appreciate that underworld is a manpower intensive 'industry' with no particular qualification to get into it. It does not produce or manufacture anything hence at most one can compare it to service industry. Although at present it does not enjoy any industry status eventually it may get one just as prostitution and Bollywood got. From where does this manpower come? From inner city localities which are low income groups with higher rates of unemployment and illiteracy, migrant localities with zero allegiance to any standard groups and organizations i.e. unorganized sector. In those days these areas were Bhendi Bazar and Madanpura. I remember when I visited my friend an excise officer who stayed in Bhendi Bazar area, there were two factions one north Indian Muslim gang and another from Kerala called Malbaris who regularly fought street fights to get control of the area. These included petty thieves, fraudsters, history sheeters, convicts, absconders, Tadi par criminals.

During my tender school days days, I once accompany my uncle in police department, to meet one such tadipar goonda who used to sit in hiding at a small hotel under the staircase of Railway bridge connecting east and west at Dadar. His name was Pappu a well built robust fair boy who later joined Bollywood and acted in a few movies as extra especially in dance sequences. Pappu  was a dare devil and at the MGMO swimming pool where he was a member he would jump the highest on the spring board before he dived in to the water with style and verve. One fine day Pappu was killed on Juhu beach by three goons who attacked him with knives where he was found smooching a girl at a lonely spot. I am sure Pappu must have given a very stiff fight in spite of it being 3 versus one. The story about Haji Mastan that made us admire him in those days was as follows: I was aware of a huge stable for Horses and carriages termed as Tongas on Bellasis road near Alexandra talkies. Shaikh went to stay at a high rise building in front and he told us of the story of how Haji Mastan cleared the place overnight getting rid of the Muslim tonga wallas. He and his men stood at the gate and ousted the horsemen paying them arbitrary amount as compensation for once and ever so that they never returned. The place was then sold to a big builder after this forced eviction. Mumbai which boasted of Horses and Carriages called Victorias lost this heritage. Thanks to the father of Underworld Mafia in Mumbai The Great Haji Mastan.