According to official figures, the riots resulted in the deaths of 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus. More than 2,500 people were injured, and 223 were reported missing. Other sources estimate that up to 2,000 Muslims died. Women were raped, children were burned alive. Muslims were killed, their homes and businesses destroyed and thousands fled the state. Mr. Modi was accused of initiating and condoning the violence, as have police and government officials in his party, who allegedly directed the rioters and gave lists of Muslim-owned properties to them. The US ambassador to India, David Mulford, described Modi’s role: “He was responsible for the performance of state institutions.” Based on the International Religious Freedom Act (1998), the US felt that Modi was answerable for “severe violations of religious freedom.” One of Mr. Modi’s former ministers was jailed for life for instigating the killing of 97 Muslims during these riots, and another was jailed for 28 years for her role in the riots. In 2012, Mr. Modi was cleared of these allegations by India’s Supreme court, though many maintain that information was suppressed during the hearings.
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In 2005, the U.S. state department denied a visa to the current Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, following accusations that as chief minister of Gujarat he had been complicit in the death of at least a thousand people through an 2002 anti-Muslim pogrom. According to official figures, the riots resulted in the deaths of 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus. More than 2,500 people were injured, and 223 were reported missing. Other sources estimate that up to 2,000 Muslims died. Women were raped, children were burned alive. Muslims were killed, their homes and businesses destroyed and thousands fled the state.
Mr. Modi was accused of initiating and condoning the violence, as have police and government officials in his party, who allegedly directed the rioters and gave lists of Muslim-owned properties to them. The US ambassador to India, David Mulford, described Modi’s role: “He was responsible for the performance of state institutions.” Based on the International Religious Freedom Act (1998), the US felt that Modi was answerable for “severe violations of religious freedom.” One of Mr. Modi’s former ministers was jailed for life for instigating the killing of 97 Muslims during these riots, and another was jailed for 28 years for her role in the riots. In 2012, Mr. Modi was cleared of these allegations by India’s Supreme court, though many maintain that information was suppressed during the hearings.