February 27, 2002: Riots break out after over 50 Hindu pilgrims die in a train fire in the town of Godhra. Between 1,000 to 2,000 people, mainly Muslims are killed, and Modi, as chief minister, is accused by his critics of not doing enough to stem the riots and even quietly encouraging them—allegations he has strongly denied and which have never been proved. To this day, the riots haunt Modi's government. In 2012, one of Modi's former ministers, Maya Kodnani, is sentenced to 28 years in jail alongside 30 others for the violence.
