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Godhra train burning | |
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Location | Godhra, Gujarat, India |
Coordinates | 22°46′41″N 73°35′52″E / 22.77806°N 73.59778°E |
Date | 27 February 2002 7:43 a.m. |
Target | Hindu Karsevaks returning from Ayodhya |
Deaths | 59 |
Injured | 48 |
The Godhra train burning occurred on the morning of 27 February 2002: 59 Hindu pilgrims and karsevaks returning from Ayodhya were killed in a fire inside the Sabarmati Express near the Godhra railway station in the Indian state of Gujarat.[1] The cause of the fire remains disputed.[2][3][4] The Gujarat riots, in which Muslims were the targets of widespread and severe violence, occurred shortly afterward.[3]
The Nanavati-Mehta commission, appointed by the state government in the immediate aftermath of the event, concluded in 2008 that the burning was a pre-planned arson committed by a thousand-strong Muslim mob.[5] The one member Banerjee commission, instituted by the then rail minister Lalu Prasad Yadav of the Ministry of Railways, characterized the fire as an accident in 2006:[6] however, the Gujarat High Court found its appointment to be unconstitutional and quashed all findings.[7] An independent investigation by a non-governmental organization also supported the theory of the burning being an accident.[8] Scholars remain skeptical about the claims of arson.[2][4][9]
In February 2011, the trial court convicted 31 Muslims for the burning, relying extensively on the Nanavati-Mehta Commission report as evidence.[10] In October 2017, the Gujarat High Court upheld the convictions.[11]
There are competing versions as to how exactly the fire started in the train bogies. While the Nanavati commission of inquiry (NCI), instated soon after the Gujarat pogrom and completed in 2008, declared that the fire in the train bogies was a premeditated act by Muslim conspirators, the Banerjee commission, instated in 2004, questioned the theory of premeditation and called the incident an accident. The Gujarat High Court ruled the latter commission illegal in 2006. Both commissions of inquiry are regularly derided as "politically motivated" by respective opposing political constituencies. Uncertainties surrounding the incident remain.
Hundreds of Muslims then allegedly attacked with stones and torches, particularly the two wagons where the fifty-nine victims were found. The facts must be stated with caution here, because expert reports and counter reports have continued to contradict each other ever since [..] The idea that the attack was "pre-planned" has never been substantiated by the slightest piece of evidence.
NDTV 2011
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).Because the fire was immediately preceded by a skirmish between the Hindu passengers and Muslims at the train station, the police – despite a lack of hard evidence – proceeded on the assumption that the fire was the result of a Muslim conspiracy.
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