In January, BBC Two broadcast a two-part retrospective on Narendra Modi’s controversial tenure as chief minister of Gujarat (2001-14) and prime minister (since 2014). The central theme of "India: The Modi Question" is the rising tensions between Modi and Muslims.
The cause of the 2002 riots in Gujarat was the death of 59 Hindu pilgrims burnt to death in a locked train carriage at Godhra Station. The shocking footage proved too combustible to contain communal passions. Vigilantes concluded Muslims had deliberately burnt the Hindu pilgrims and revenge mobs killed around 1,000 mostly Muslim people. Wounds remain raw from both events.
The state government was widely held guilty of failing to mobilize police in time to contain the atrocities. At worst, it was guilty of having encouraged and abetted the killings. At best, of having ordered the police to stand by while the mobs ran wild.