The
Godhra train burning was an incident that occurred on the morning of 27 February 2002, in which 59 people died in a fire inside the
Sabarmati Express train near the
Godhra railway station in the Indian state of
Gujarat. The victims were mainly
Hindu pilgrims who were returning from the city of
Ayodhya after a religious ceremony at the disputed
Babri Masjid site. The
commission set up by the
Government of Gujarat to investigate the train burning spent 6 years going over the details of the case, and concluded that the fire was arson committed by a mob of 1000-2000 people. A commission appointed by the central government, whose appointment was later held to be unconstitutional, stated that the fire had been an accident. A court convicted 31 Muslims for the incident and the conspiracy for the crime, although the actual causes of the fire have yet to be proven conclusively.