Hindu nationalist "rioters" in Gujarat, 2002 Twenty years ago, from the end of February 2002, the Indian state of Gujarat saw horrific, arguably genocidal, violence against Muslims, with its government implicated in the pogroms. Gujarat’s chief minister then was Narendra Modi, now the prime minister of India. The 2002 events were linked to a chain of sectarian conflicts in the state, involving Hindu-chauvinist attacks on Muslims, going back to the late 60s. These outbreaks were exploited by the organised Hindu right and far right to feed their rise.