We have seen the bloody communal history of the town. Now let us see the exact horrid, lurid details of the massacre of 27^th February 2002 with the background.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) had organized a ‘Purnahuti Yagya’ in Ayodhya in February- March 2002. People participating in this ‘Yagya’ had simply participated and gone home. They did not stay in Ayodhya until 15^th March 2002 for the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya at the undisputed site.

People from all parts of the country went to Ayodhya, participated in this event i.e. the Purnahuti Yagya and returned home from mid-February to 27^th February 2002.

A trainload of such people called ‘Karsevaks’ or ‘Ramsevaks’ were returning to Ahmedabad in Gujarat from Ayodhya after participating in the Purnahuti Yagya. Whether they were all members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad or just ordinary people supporting the VHP’s stance on Ram temple is not known. Teesta Setalvad, who is a massive liar having done many crimes like tutoring witnesses to give fake evidence in false cases, exaggeration and blatant lying, said on that day: “While I condemn today’s gruesome attack, you cannot pick up an incident in isolation. Let us not forget the provocation. These people were not going for a benign assembly. They were indulging in blatant and unlawful mobilization to build a temple and deliberately provoke the Muslims in India.” This was absolutely wrong. The people were not at all doing anything illegal or unlawful. They had every right to visit Ayodhya, take part in the Purnahuti Yagya, and return home. They were not forcibly occupying the disputed land, or forcibly trying to build Ram temple at the disputed land, or for that matter, at the undisputed land. They were not going to Ayodhya, but returning from Ayodhya simply after participating in the Yagna and having done nothing wrong in Ayodhya. Also, the demand for Ram temple construction was at the  undisputed land, not the disputed land where the disputed structure called as Babri Masjid stood. The undisputed land was owned by VHP and affiliates, and they have every right to do whatever they wanted there. The Supreme Court also gave a verdict in 1994 saying that the undisputed land can be returned to the rightful owners.

The train, the Sabarmati Express was supposed to reach Ahmedabad early in the morning. It was running 4 hours late. (Source: India Today weekly, dated 11 March 2002)

Shortly after the train left the Godhra railway station at 7: 47 AM, a mob of 2,000 people stopped it. The mob was armed with petrol bombs, acid bombs and swords. The attackers poured petrol into the compartment and then it afire. Two thousand people were standing on all sides of the compartment to prevent the karsevaks from running away and saving their lives from the fire. The karsevaks were literally caught between devil and the deep sea. There was fire inside and armed Muslims outside.The karsevaks were burnt to death in a most horrifying manner. Many of the charred bodies were beyond recognition. The victims included 14 children, including a couple of siblings and also a couple of old women of above 65. They were all done to death in a most brutal manner.

Some more details are given in the book which are not on this website.