2002 Gujarat riots

Main article: 2002 Gujarat riots

On 27 February 2002, a train with several hundred passengers burned near Godhra, killing
approximately 60 people.[h] The train carried a large number of Hindu pilgrims returning
from Ayodhya after a religious ceremony at the site of the demolished Babri Masjid.[91][92] In making
a public statement after the incident, Modi declared it a terrorist attack planned and orchestrated
by local Muslims.[10][91][93] The next day, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad called for a bandh across the
state.[94][95] Riots began during the bandh, and anti-Muslim violence spread through Gujarat.[91][94]
[95]
 The government's decision to move the bodies of the train victims from Godhra to Ahmedabad
further inflamed the violence.[91][96] The state government stated later that 790 Muslims and 254
Hindus were killed.[97] Independent sources put the death toll at over 2000. [91][98] Approximately
150,000 people were driven to refugee camps.[99] Numerous women and children were among the
victims; the violence included mass rapes and mutilations of women. [9][100]
The government of Gujarat itself is generally considered by scholars to have been complicit in
the riots,[8][9][10] and has otherwise received heavy criticism for its handling of the situation.
[101]
 Several scholars have described the violence as a pogrom, while others have called it an
example of state terrorism.[102][103][104] Summarising academic views on the subject, Martha
Nussbaum said: "There is by now a broad consensus that the Gujarat violence was a form of
ethnic cleansing, that in many ways it was premeditated, and that it was carried out with the
complicity of the state government and officers of the law." [9] The Modi government imposed a
curfew in 26 major cities, issued shoot-at-sight orders and called for the army to patrol the
streets, but was unable to prevent the violence from escalating. [94][95] The president of the state
unit of the BJP expressed support for the bandh, despite such actions being illegal at the time.
[10]
 State officials later prevented riot victims from leaving the refugee camps, and the camps were
often unable to meet the needs of those living there. [105] Muslim victims of the riots were subject to
further discrimination when the state government announced that compensation for Muslim
victims would be half of that offered to Hindus, although this decision was later reversed after the
issue was taken to court.[106] During the riots, police officers often did not intervene in situations
where they were able.[9][93][107]