Kelashi123 at 23:16, 1 June 2025

2025-06-01T23:16:20Z

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{{short description|none}} 
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=February 2017}}
{{Year in India|2002}}
Events in the year '''2002 in the Republic of India'''.

==Incumbents==
*
* [[President of India]] – [[K.R. Narayanan]] to 25 July [[A. P. J. Abdul Kalam]]
* [[Prime Minister of India]] – [[Atal Bihari Vajpayee]]
* [[Vice President of India]] –
** [[Krishna Kant]](till 27 July)
** [[Bhairon Singh Shekhawat]](from 19 August)
* [[Chief Justice of India]] –
** until 6 May – [[Sam Piroj Bharucha]]
** 6 May – 8 November – [[Bhupinder Nath Kirpal]]
** 8 November – 19 December – [[Gopal Ballav Pattanaik]]
** starting 19 December – [[V. N. Khare]]

===Governors===
* [[List of governors of Andhra Pradesh|Andhra Pradesh]] – [[C. Rangarajan]]
* [[List of governors of Arunachal Pradesh|Arunachal Pradesh]] – [[Arvind Dave]]
* [[List of governors of Assam|Assam]] – [[Srinivas Kumar Sinha]]<ref>{{cite news |title=Sinha adopts Punjab model |url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1020902/asp/northeast/story_1159288.asp |date=2 September 2002 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150531185208/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1020902/asp/northeast/story_1159288.asp |archive-date=31 May 2015|website=www.telegraphindia.com}}</ref>
* [[List of governors of Bihar|Bihar]] – [[V. C. Pande]]
* [[List of governors of Chhattisgarh|Chhattisgarh]] – [[D. N. Sahay]]
* [[List of governors of Goa|Goa]] – [[Mohammed Fazal]] (until 25 October), [[Kidar Nath Sahani]] (starting 25 October)
* [[List of governors of Gujarat|Gujarat]] – [[Sunder Singh Bhandari]]
* [[List of governors of Haryana|Haryana]] – [[Babu Parmanand]]
* [[List of governors of Himachal Pradesh|Himachal Pradesh]] – [[Suraj Bhan]]
* [[List of governors of Jharkhand|Jharkhand]] –
** until 3 February: [[Prabhat Kumar]]
** 3 February-14 July: [[V. C. Pande]]
** starting 14 July: [[M. Rama Jois]]
* [[List of governors of Jammu and Kashmir|Jammu and Kashmir]] – [[Girish Chandra Saxena]]
* [[List of governors of Karnataka|Karnataka]] – [[V. S. Ramadevi]] (until 20 August), [[T. N. Chaturvedi]] (starting 20 August)
* [[List of governors of Kerala|Kerala]] – [[Sukhdev Singh Kang]] (until 18 April), [[Sikander Bakht]] (starting 18 April)
* [[List of governors of Madhya Pradesh|Madhya Pradesh]] – [[Bhai Mahavir]]
* [[List of governors of Maharashtra|Maharashtra]] – [[P.C. Alexander]] (until 13 July), [[Mohammed Fazal]] (starting 13 July)
* [[List of governors of Manipur|Manipur]] – [[Ved Marwah]]
* [[List of governors of Meghalaya|Meghalaya]] – [[M.M. Jacob]]
* [[List of governors of Mizoram|Mizoram]] – [[Amolak Rattan Kohli]]
* [[List of governors of Nagaland|Nagaland]] – [[Om Prakash Sharma (Nagaland politician)|Om Prakash Sharma]] (until 27 January), [[Shyamal Datta]] (starting 28 January)
* [[List of governors of Odisha|Odisha]] – [[M. M. Rajendran]]
* [[List of governors of Punjab, India|Punjab]] – [[J. F. R. Jacob]]
* [[List of governors of Rajasthan|Rajasthan]] – [[Anshuman Singh (politician)|Anshuman Singh]]
* [[List of governors of Sikkim|Sikkim]] – [[Kidar Nath Sahani]] (until 25 October), [[V. Rama Rao]] (starting 25 October)
* [[List of governors of Tamil Nadu|Tamil Nadu]] – [[C. Rangarajan]] (until 17 January), [[P. S. Ramamohan Rao]] (starting 17 January)
* [[List of governors of Tripura|Tripura]] – [[Krishna Mohan Seth]]
* [[List of governors of Uttar Pradesh|Uttar Pradesh]] – [[Vishnu Kant Shastri]]
* [[List of governors of Uttarakhand|Uttarakhand]] – [[Surjit Singh Barnala]]
* [[List of governors of West Bengal|West Bengal]] – [[Viren J. Shah]]

==Events==
* National income - {{INR}}24,926,138 million

=== January - March ===
*9 January – The government announces that it is laying [[land mine|landmines]] along the entire length of its 2,800-km border with [[Pakistan]].
*10 January – 800 protesters are arrested in a large-scale illegal protest against the Communist government of [[West Bengal]], which brings the state to a standstill. The authorities there had outlawed "disruptive" protests at the end of 2001.
* Mid-January – Direct flights to [[China]] are set to resume for the first time in 40 years after diplomatic talks between the two countries.
*16 January – [[archaeology|Archaeologists]] announce the discovery of ancient man-made structures off the [[Gujarat]]i coast which could be as many as 9,500 years old – 5,500 years older than the ancient [[Harappan civilisation]] whose remains are found around the same region.
*22 January – Five policemen are killed and 20 other people injured when Islamic [[militant]]s attack an American cultural centre in [[Kolkata]]. Police arrest at least 50 suspects in the wake of the incident. The government immediately accuses its [[Pakistan]]i counterpart of involvement in the attack.
* Late January – The government is roundly criticised for testing a short-range version of its [[Agni missile|Agni]] ballistic missile on 25 January, the day before the country's [[Republic Day]], at a time when military tensions with [[Pakistan]] remain high.
*3 February – [[Russia]] gives its full backing to India over the [[Kashmir]] dispute with neighbouring [[Pakistan]].
* Mid-February – The Cellular Operators Association announces that the ownership of mobile phones in India rocketed by 75% in the previous year. Almost 6 million Indians now own mobile phones.
*24 February – The [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] (BJP) loses control of state governments in [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[Punjab, India|Punjab]], and Uttaranchal (now known as [[Uttarakhand]]) according to election results released this day. The [[Bharatiya Janata Party|BJP]] is expected to retain a role in a coalition in [[Uttar Pradesh|U.P.]] (the most populous state in India), whereas the [[Punjab, India|Punjab]] and [[Uttarakhand|Uttaranchal]] state legislatures are now dominated by the opposition Congress party.
*27 February – One of the worst violence unleashed against Muslims after 59 Hindu pilgrims killed aboard a fire in a train allegedly started by a local Muslim mob in [[Godhra train burning|Godhra]].
*28 February –
**[[2002 Gujarat violence]]: Three day violence against Muslim community in the city of [[Ahmedabad]], [[Gujarat]] and surroundings begins leaving over 500 dead. The violence came after the death the previous day of 58 who died in [[Godhra]], near [[Vadodara]] (the exact circumstances remain unclear).
**[[Gulbarg Society massacre]]: During the [[2002 Gujarat riots]], a mob attacked the Gulbarag Society, a lower-middle-class neighborhood in Chamanpura, [[Ahmedabad]]. Most of the houses were burnt, and at least 35 victims including a former Congress Member of Parliament [[Ehsan Jafri]], were burnt alive, while 31 others went missing after the incident, later presumed dead, bringing the total of the dead to 69.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/the-gulbarg-society-massacre-what-happened-17556.php|title=The Gulbarg Society massacre: What happened|date=11 March 2010|publisher=[[NDTV]]}}</ref><ref name="sa">{{cite news| title =Safehouse of Horrors| publisher =[[Tehelka]]| url =http://www.tehelka.com/story_main35.asp?filename=Ne031107safehouseofhorrors.asp&page=1| date =3 November 2007| access-date =15 May 2010| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20090429102953/http://www.tehelka.com/story_main35.asp?filename=Ne031107safehouseofhorrors.asp&page=1| archive-date =29 April 2009| url-status =dead}}</ref><ref name="ex">{{cite news|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/Apex-court-SIT-submits-report-on-Gulbarg-Society-massacre/Article1-543728.aspx |title=Apex court SIT submits report on Gulbarg Society massacre |date=14 May 2010 |work=Hindustan Times|location=India |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606060611/http://www.hindustantimes.com/Apex-court-SIT-submits-report-on-Gulbarg-Society-massacre/Article1-543728.aspx |archive-date=6 June 2011}}</ref>
**[[Naroda Patiya massacre]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Langa |first=Mahesh |date=2023-04-20 |title=2002 Gujarat riots {{!}} All 67 accused in Naroda village massacre case acquitted |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/2002-gujarat-riots-naroda-gam-massacre-case-verdict/article66758532.ece |access-date=2025-04-01 |work=The Hindu |language=en-IN |issn=0971-751X}}</ref>
**Finance Minister [[Yashwant Sinha]] presents the 2002–03 budget. Amongst its major features are a 4.8% increase in defence spending and a 5% surcharge on income tax to pay for this.
*1 March – Continuing violence in [[Ahmedabad]] kills 28; police shoot and kill 5 rioters.
*2 March – [[J. Jayalalithaa]] returns to power in [[Tamil Nadu]] as chief minister. In December 2001, an appeals court had quashed her October 2000 corruption conviction that disqualified her from standing for election.
*3 March – The speaker of the [[Lok Sabha]], [[Ganti Mohana Chandra Balayogi]], died in a helicopter crash in the southern state of [[Andhra Pradesh]]. He was the first low-caste [[Dalit (outcaste)|Dalit]] to be elected to the post.
*4 March [[Bilkis Bano case]]
*6 March – Novelist [[Arundhati Roy]], a high-profile campaigner against the [[Narmada River]] dams project, is sentenced by the [[Supreme Court of India|Supreme Court]] to one day in prison for [[contempt of court]] because of an [[affidavit]] she had written criticising the court.
*8 March – [[President's rule]] is imposed on the northern state of [[Uttar Pradesh]] as no party could command a majority after the recent elections.
*15 March – 9,000 suspected [[Hindu]] hardliners are arrested, including 8,000 in [[Mumbai]] alone, in a massive crackdown aimed at preventing further interreligious violence. Tensions are high surrounding attempts to construct a new Hindu temple on the site of the [[Ayodhya]] [[mosque]], which was destroyed by Hindu extremists in 1992.
*15 March – The [[High Courts of India|New Delhi High Court]] overturns the October 2000 corruption conviction of former prime minister [[P.V. Narasimha Rao]].
*25 March – Police arrest [[Yasin Malik]], leader of the separatist [[Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front]] (JKLF), in [[Srinagar]].
*26 March – The government pushes through its controversial [[Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance]] (POTO) bill in a rare joint session of both houses of parliament, only the third since independence. In separate sessions, the [[Lok Sabha]] had passed the bill on 18 March but it was defeated in the [[Rajya Sabha]] on 21 March.

=== April - June ===
*4 April – On his first visit to [[Gujarat]] since the violence there began, (''See [[2002 Gujarat violence]]'') Prime Minister [[Atal Bihari Vajpayee|Vajpayee]] makes an impassioned speech appealing to the [[Hindu]] and [[Muslim]] communities to end the violence, saying that the "shameful events" in [[Gujarat]] are a "blot" on India.
*16 April – Up to 10 million [[public sector]] workers, including 32,000 employees of state-owned banks, hold a one-day strike against government [[privatisation]] plans.
*18 April – India signs a deal to buy a $146 million weapon-seeking radar system built by the U.S. company [[Raytheon]]. It is the first significant U.S. arms sale to India for a decade.
*29 April – Minister for Coal and Mines [[Ram Vilas Paswan]] resigns on the issue of the Gujarat violence, which he says has "tarnished India's image" while the government's role appears to be that of a "silent spectator". He pulls his [[Lok Janshakti Party]] out of the ruling [[National Democratic Alliance (India)|National Democratic Alliance]] coalition.
*3 May – The stalemate in [[Uttar Pradesh]] is resolved when [[Mayawati]] of the [[Bahujan Samaj Party]] is sworn in as chief minister, in a coalition with the BJP.
*10 May – [[Manohar Joshi]] of the [[Shiv Sena (1966–2022)|Shiv Sena]] party is elected speaker of the [[Lok Sabha]].
*14 May – An attack by militants on an army base in [[Kashmir]], in which 34 people are killed, leads to sharply rising tensions with [[Pakistan]]. On 15 May, [[Atal Bihari Vajpayee|Vajpayee]] says in the Lok Sabha: "We will have to retaliate." Fears increase that the situation might escalate into a nuclear exchange.
*21 May – Moderate [[Kashmir]]i separatist leader [[Abdul Ghani Lone]] is assassinated. On the same day Vajpayee begins a five-day visit to Kashmir. In a martial speech on 22 May, he says that "a new chapter of victory and triumph will be written in the history books soon".
*23 May – Indian paratroops complete a two-week exercise with U.S. forces south of New Delhi.
*31 May – Both the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the U.S. State Department issue unprecedented advice to their citizens living in India to leave the country.
*[[2002 heatwave in India]]
* June – Tensions between [[India-Pakistan relations|India and Pakistan]] are reduced largely as a result of international pressure. [[Pakistan]]i President [[Pervez Musharraf]] assures visiting U.S. Deputy Secretary of State [[Richard Armitage (politician)|Richard Armitage]] that the cessation of cross-border infiltration will be made "permanent" and "irreversible". On 20 June, [[Minister of Defence (India)|Indian Defense Minister]] [[George Fernandes]] says that infiltration has "nearly ended". Analysts note, however, that some 3,000 indigenous and Pakistani militants are already inside Indian-controlled Kashmir, and violent incidents continue on a daily basis. On 9 June police in Srinagar arrest [[Syed Ali Shah Geelani]], leader of the hardline Islamist [[Jamaat-e-Islami Kashmir|Jamaat-i-Islami]] party and a prominent leader of the [[All Parties Hurriyat Conference]].
*22 June – [[Ashok Singhal]], leader of the [[Vishwa Hindu Parishad]] (VHP), announces that the VHP is no longer bound by its earlier promise to the government to await a court ruling before embarking on the construction of a temple to the [[god]] [[Rama]] on the site of the destroyed [[Babri Masjid|Babri]] [[mosque]] at [[Ayodhya]].

=== July - December ===
*1 July – Foreign Minister [[Jaswant Singh]] and [[Minister of Finance (India)|Finance Minister]] [[Yashwant Sinha]] exchange their portfolios in a cabinet reshuffle. The [[Bharatiya Janata Party|BJP]] installs [[Venkaiah Naidu]] as party president, replacing [[Jana Krishnamurthi]] who becomes Union Law Minister.
*15 July – An electoral college composed of the members of both houses of the federal parliament and of all state assemblies elects [[A.P.J. Abdul Kalam]], a [[Muslim]] and prominent missile scientist, [[president of India]]. He was supported by the ruling NDA coalition as well as the opposition Congress and most other parties.
*27 July – Vice President [[Krishan Kant]] dies of a heart attack.
*12 August – [[Bhairon Singh Shekhawat]] is elected vice president.
*25 August – Notorious bandit [[Veerappan]] abducts a former minister of [[Karnataka]], Hannur Nagappa, threatening to behead him unless the state governments of [[Karnataka]] and neighbouring [[Tamil Nadu]] release imprisoned Tamil separatists.
*28 August – Chief magistrate Rameshwar Kotha of the [[High Courts of India|Bhopal High Court]] rejects the federal Central Bureau of Investigation's attempt to reduce charges against the former chairman of the U.S. [[Union Carbide]] company, Warren Anderson, for responsibility for the 1984 chemical plant disaster at [[Bhopal]]. Kotha asks the government to bring extradition proceedings without delay, but it is thought that the government is reluctant to do so for fear of alienating the U.S. business community.
*9 September – At least 119 people are killed in a train crash in the northeastern state of [[Bihar]] when part of the [[Rajdhani Express]] from [[Kolkata]] to [[New Delhi]] derails on a bridge over the Dhava river near [[Aurangabad, Bihar|Aurangabad]].
*16 September and 24, 1 and 8 October – Elections are held in the state of [[Jammu and Kashmir (state)|Jammu and Kashmir]] amid an atmosphere of escalating violence. The result is a surprising defeat of the [[Jammu & Kashmir National Conference|National Conference]], which was the dominant political force in the state for over 40 years. A government is formed by the [[People's Democratic Party (India)|People's Democratic Party]] and the Congress. PDP leader [[Mufti Mohammad Sayeed]] is to be the [[Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir]] for three years, followed by [[Ghulam Nabi Azad]] of the Congress for another three years.
*24 – 25 September – Two heavily armed gunmen kill at least 32 people in an attack on a [[Hindu temple]] in [[Gandhinagar]], the capital of [[Gujarat]], before army commandos recapture the temple and kill the terrorists.
*27 September – Sukhoi 30 MKI was inducted in [[Indian Air Force]].
*10 October – [[Mohammad Fazal]] is appointed [[Governor of Maharashtra]].
* [[Mufti Mohammad Sayeed]] is sworn in as the [[Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir]].
*16 October – [[Minister of Defence (India)|Defense Minister]] [[George Fernandes]] announces that a significant number of the million troops deployed since December 2001 on the border with Pakistan will be withdrawn. However, there will be no reduction in strength along the Line of Control in Kashmir.
*3 November - Two alleged militants died in a fake encounter in Ansal Plaza, [[Delhi]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=2002-11-03 |title=Two militants shot dead in Delhi's Ansal Plaza |work=The Times of India |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/two-militants-shot-dead-in-delhis-ansal-plaza/articleshow/27183639.cms?from=mdr |access-date=2023-02-17 |issn=0971-8257}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Delhi Ansal Plaza 'fake' encounter witness Hari Krishna lands in trouble |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/indiascope/story/20030217-delhi-ansal-plaza-fake-encounter-witness-hari-krishna-lands-in-trouble-793307-2003-02-16 |access-date=2023-02-17 |website=India Today |language=en}}</ref>
*15 November – A court in New Delhi finds that there is sufficient evidence to prosecute the UK based businessmen and brothers [[S P Hinduja|Shrichand]], [[Gopichand Hinduja|Gopichand]], and [[Prakash Hinduja]] for cheating, conspiracy, and abetting corruption in the 1986 arms procurement scandal between India and the Swedish arms manufacturer [[Bofors]].
*3 – 5 December – [[Russia]]n President [[Vladimir Putin]] visits India, holding talks with [[Prime Minister of India|Prime Minister]] [[Atal Bihari Vajpayee|Vajpayee]] and other [[Union Council of Ministers|senior ministers]].
*8 December – Police confirm they have found the body of H. Nagappa, the former [[Karnataka]] minister kidnapped by [[Veerappan]] in August. [[Veerappan]] issues a taped statement saying that Nagappa has been accidentally killed in a shootout with the police.
*12 December – The [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] (BJP) is returned to power with a landslide victory in state assembly elections in [[Gujarat]].
*16 December – A special court in [[New Delhi]] convicts three [[Kashmiri Muslims]] of planning the attack on the federal parliament in December 2001. The three men are sentenced to death on 18 December.
*20 December – Guerrillas of the [[Maoist Communist Centre]] (MCC) kill 18 people in an attack on a police van in the Sanda forests of the eastern state of [[Jharkhand]]. It is said to be a revenge attack for the death two days earlier of the MCC leader Ishwari Mahato.
*22 December – [[Narendra Modi]] is sworn in as the [[List of chief ministers of Gujarat|Chief Minister]] of [[Gujarat]] for the second time.
*24 December – [[Prime Minister of India|Prime Minister]] [[Atal Bihari Vajpayee|Vajpayee]] opens the first stretch of [[Delhi]]'s new [[rapid transit|metro]] system.

==Births==


*18 February – [[Manu Bhaker]], Indian Olympian.
*18 February - Bharani Bahhe, Polyglot, Influencer.
===Full date unknown===
* [[Hridayeshwar Singh Bhati]],inventor
* [[Budhia Singh]], marathon

==Deaths==

*4 February – [[Bhagwan Dada]], actor and film director (b. 1913).
*19 February – [[Karim Lala]], Indian mobster (b. [[1911 in India|1911]])<ref>{{Cite web |date=2002-02-20 |title=Karim Lala’s death marks end of old-guard mafia |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/karim-lalas-death-marks-end-of-old-guard-mafia/articleshow/1508911.cms |access-date=2022-11-28 |website=The Times of India |language=en}}</ref>
*23 March – [[Piara Singh Gill]], [[physicist]] (b. 1911).
*25 April – [[Prameela Devi]], actress (b. 1943).
*10 May – [[Kaifi Azmi]], Urdu poet (b. 1919)
*6 July – [[Dhirubhai Ambani]], business tycoon (b. 1933).
*27 July – [[Krishan Kant]], politician, Vice President of India (b. 1927).
*24 September – [[Pisharoth Rama Pisharoty]], [[physicist]] and [[meteorologist]] (b. 1909).
*11 October – [[Dina Pathak]], actress and activist (b. 1922).

== See also ==
{{Commons category}}
* [[Bollywood films of 2002]]

==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

{{Years in India}}
{{Asia topic|2002 in}}

[[Category:2002 in India| ]]
[[Category:Years of the 21st century in India]]
[[Category:2002 by country|India]]
[[Category:2000s in India]]
[[Category:2002 in Asia|India]]

2002 in India - Revision history

Kelashi123 at 23:16, 1 June 2025