From December 1992 to January 1993, the Bombay riots took place after the demolition of Babri mosque in Ayodhya. Both Muslims and Hindus were killed during the riots.
The demolition of this mosque sparked a lot of anger in the city, as many believed that the government would protect the mosque from being torn down; however, this didn't happen, and as news spread of the demolition, more and more people gathered to express their emotions.
People flooded the streets, often attacking public property, including buses. As crowds and violence grew, the police force grew violent as well.
Several shots were fired, which killed many and the Muslims and Hindus began to fight amongst themselves.
After this, riots sparked in Dongri, in which Hindus revenged against the Muslims after Hindu workers were killed.
The violence continued and the police force grew more restless, continuing to kill rioters. However, rioters continued their violence as well.
Once the riots died down after the Hindus and Muslims came together to save the Islamapura mosque , the damage in various cities was already done.
By the end of it all, 900 people were dead and about 2,000 were injured. However, soon after the Bombay riots ending, the Bombay serial blasts took place that killed about 250 people. The blasts were masterminded by Dawood Ibrahim and his gang, who later fled to Pakistan.
8. Bloody Sunday 1905 – 1,000 dead
Out of all of the riots on this list, Bloody Sunday is definitely one that many will remember, and sadly the one that turned for the worst.
Thousands of Russian citizens were peacefully demonstrating in the streets of Russia to give a petition to Czar Nicolas II.
However, the peaceful gathering soon turned deadly when the czar's secret police force arrived and shot many of the demonstrators, despite the fact that they were doing nothing wrong.
Before the riot that took place on January 22, 1905 in St. Petersburg, various citizens in Russia, mostly those who worked in factories and were considered part of the lower class, were looking for a way to notify the czar of the horrible working conditions that they had to suffer through each day.
Lead by Father Gapon, the crowd of people decided that a petition given to the czar would be the best way to get the word directly to the source.
Almost 300,000 citizens, many of them workers and their families, walked to the Winter Palace, where they sang hymns, held religious symbols, and even sang songs praising the czar.
However, when the crowd started to near the palace, the guards fired warning shots, but they continued on, and this sparked the police to shoot randomly within the crowd, despite the fact that this riot was peaceful.
The crowd dispersed and violence erupted, which only caused a lot of confusion and frantic people.
Sadly, after the shots were fired, people were struck and died. But not only did bullets kill people, the rush of people also caused some to fall and in the end they were trampled to death.
The riot basically ended after the shots were fired and the rioters ran away to avoid being killed.
Father Gapon, though not killed during the riot, was later assassinated by order of the government. Today, songs, movies, and books have been made to depict Bloody Sunday.
