From Eid to Ash: 14 Years Since the Gujarat Pogrom
By Yusuf Dawood 26/2/26
On 23 February 2002, Muslims in Gujarat marked Eid al-Adha. It is a festival rooted in the story of the Prophet Abraham and his son Ishmael — a story not of triumph, but of obedience, restraint and mercy. Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice is ultimately answered not with blood, but with divine compassion. The lesson is clear: faith must be tempered by conscience. Power must bow to moral limits.
For three days, homes were open. Food was shared. Prayers were offered. Children wore new clothes. Neighbours exchanged greetings of peace. Then, on 28 February, parts of Gujarat were engulfed in organised violence.
More than a thousand people were killed, the majority Muslim. Women were subjected to unspeakable brutality. Entire neighbourhoods were burned. Tens of thousands were displaced. At the time, Gujarat’s Chief Minister was Narendra Modi. In 2005, the United States denied him a visa under legislation concerning religious freedom — an extraordinary diplomatic rebuke. India’s Supreme Court has not convicted him of wrongdoing, and he has consistently denied culpability. Yet the events of 2002 have never fully receded from international scrutiny, resurfacing in inquiries, human rights reports and a recent documentary by the BBC, The Modi Question
Former police officer Sanjiv Bhatt alleged that senior officials were forewarned about possible reprisals after the Godhra incident and alleged that Mr Modi told officials that Hindus should be allowed to vent their anger against Muslims.
Still, the most haunting fact is the calendar. Eid on February 23. Pogrom on February 28.
CELEBRATION, THEN FIRE.
The proximity matters. Festivals are moments of visibility and belonging. When violence erupts immediately after such a gathering, it transforms joy into vulnerability. It tells a minority community that even its holiest days offer no insulation from political rage.
That is why this anniversary cannot be treated as routine and in 2026, due to the observance of religious festivals using the lunar calendar the anniversary this year will fall on May 31st not February 28th.
The ideology often described as Hindutva frames India as fundamentally a Hindu civilisational state. Its defenders see cultural affirmation. Its critics see the risk of majoritarian dominance. Wherever politics begins to define citizenship through religious hierarchy rather than constitutional equality, minorities listen differently. They measure not just laws, but tone. Not just policy, but atmosphere.
PAST SCARS FUTURE WARNINGS
This is not solely India’s challenge. In 2022, unrest in Leicester demonstrated how quickly identity politics abroad can reverberate within diaspora communities. Social media collapses distance. Narratives harden. Grievance travels. In the UK, the Dawood family still await repatriation of the remains of their family members who were killed whilst on holiday reflecting the deeply punitive manner in which the Indian authorities weaponised grief against British citizens.
February 28 stands as a reminder of how fast coexistence can fracture when leaders promote hate and fail to cool anger or when institutions falter under pressure. Democracies survive not by satisfying majorities, but by protecting minorities at their most exposed.
Eid al-Adha commemorates a moment when sacrifice was halted — when restraint prevailed over destruction. Five days after Eid in 2002, restraint failed. That contrast is the moral weight of this anniversary. Dates matter because they compress lessons into memory. This anniversary is not only about Gujarat. It is about the enduring obligation of every plural society: that no community should celebrate its faith in peace and, days later, fear for its survival.
