2002 Gujarat riots | |
---|---|
Part of religious violence in India | |
![]() The skyline of Ahmedabad filled with smoke as buildings and shops are set on fire by rioting mobs. | |
Date | February – March 2002 |
Location | Gujarat, India |
Caused by | Godhra train burning[1][2] State terrorism[3][1] Ethnic cleansing[2] |
Methods | Rioting, pogrom, arson, mass rape, kidnapping, mass murder |
Casualties | |
Death(s) | 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus (official) 1,926 to 2,000+ total (other sources)[4][5][6] |
Injuries | 2,500+ |
The 2002 Gujarat riots, also known as the 2002 Gujarat violence or the Gujarat pogrom,[7][8][9][10][11] was a three-day period of inter-communal violence in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The burning of a train in Godhra on 27 February 2002, which caused the deaths of 58 Hindu pilgrims and karsevaks returning from Ayodhya, is cited as having instigated the violence.[12][13][14][15] Following the initial riot incidents, there were further outbreaks of violence in Ahmedabad for three months; statewide, there were further outbreaks of violence against the minority Muslim population of Gujarat for the next year.[7][16]
According to official figures, the riots ended with 1,044 dead, 223 missing, and 2,500 injured. Of the dead, 790 were Muslim and 254 Hindu.[17] The Concerned Citizens Tribunal Report,[18] estimated that as many as 1,926 may have been killed.[4] Other sources estimated death tolls in excess of 2,000.[5] Many brutal killings and rapes were reported on as well as widespread looting and destruction of property. Narendra Modi, then Chief Minister of Gujarat and later Prime Minister of India, was accused of condoning the violence, as were police and government officials who allegedly directed the rioters and gave lists of Muslim-owned properties to them.[19]
In 2012, Modi was cleared of complicity in the violence by Special Investigation Team (SIT) appointed by the Supreme Court of India. The SIT also rejected claims that the state government had not done enough to prevent the riots.[20] The Muslim community was reported to have reacted with anger and disbelief.[21] In July 2013, allegations were made that the SIT had suppressed evidence.[22] That December, an Indian court upheld the earlier SIT report and rejected a petition seeking Modi's prosecution.[23] In April 2014, the Supreme Court expressed satisfaction over the SIT's investigations in nine cases related to the violence, and rejected a plea contesting the SIT report as "baseless".[24]
Though officially classified as a communalist riot, the events of 2002 have been described as a pogrom by many scholars,[25][26] with some commentators alleging that the attacks had been planned, with the attack on the train was a "staged trigger" for what was actually premeditated violence.[27][28] Other observers have stated that these events had met the "legal definition of genocide,"[29] or referred to them as state terrorism or ethnic cleansing.[3][1][2] Instances of mass violence include the Naroda Patiya massacre that took place directly adjacent to a police training camp;[30] the Gulbarg Society massacre where Ehsan Jafri, a former parliamentarian, was among those killed; and several incidents in Vadodara city.[31] Scholars studying the 2002 riots state that they were premeditated and constituted a form of ethnic cleansing, and that the state government and law enforcement were complicit in the violence that occurred.[27][3][30][32][33][34][35][36]
Baruah 2012 b
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).McLane 2010
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).Pandey 2005 b
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).This article is extracted and adapted from the author's book Between Memory and Forgetting: Massacre and the Modi Years in Gujarat, Yoda Press, 2019.
godhra train burning which led to the gujarat riots of 2002
gujarat 2002 riots caused godhra burning
the violence occurred in the aftermath of a fire that broke out in carriage of the Sabarmati Express train
Escherle 2013
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).Official death toll
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).Murphy 2011
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).Krishnan 2012
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).Times of India 2013
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).Dhattiwala 2012
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).Baldwin 2002
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).Garlough 2013
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).Patiya massacre
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).Vadodara 2007
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).