2002 Gujarat Violence

The 2002 Gujarat violence was a series of incidents including the Godhra train burning and Naroda Patiya massacre and the subsequent communal riots between Hindus and Muslims in the Indian state of Gujarat. On 27 February 2002, the Sabarmati Express train was attacked at Godhra by a Muslim mob as per a preplanned conspiracy. 58 Hindu pilgrims, including 25 women and 15 children, returning from Ayodhya, were killed in the attack. This in turn prompted retaliatory attacks against Muslims and general communal riots on a large scale across the state, in which 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus were ultimately killed and 223 more people were reported missing. 523 places of worship were damaged: 298 dargahs, 205 mosques, 17 temples, and 3 churches. Muslim-owned businesses suffered the bulk of the damage. 61,000 Muslims and 10,000 Hindus fled their homes. Preventive arrests of 17,947 Hindus and 3,616 Muslims were made. In total 27,901 Hindus and 7,651 Muslims were arrested.

The nature of these events remains politically controversial in India. Some commentators have characterised the deaths of Muslims (but not the Hindus) as a genocide in which the state was complicit, while others have countered that the hundreds of Muslim and Hindu dead were all victims of riots or "violent disturbances".