Anniversary Gujarat Riots

On 27 February 2002 at Godhra City in the state of Gujarat, riots erupted after the Sabarmati Express train caught fire, resulting in the death of 60 Hindu pilgrims.

The local Hindu community blamed the muslims for starting the train fire in the immediate aftermath of the incident.

What followed was one of the worst outbreaks of religious violence in recent years, due to full blown retaliatory attacks by Hindus and widespread riots. The riots resulted in the death of 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus and more than 223 people reported missing.

To this date, the bloody events remains a political sensitive issue in India, due to back and forth accusations by both Hindus and Muslims over who was responsible for the train fire.