Ayodhya firing incident

On 30 October and 2 November 1990, security forces in Uttar Pradesh opened fire on kar sevaks (volunteer activists) who had converged on the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, during an agitation led by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and its Sangh Parivar affiliates to demolish the mosque and erect a temple to the Hindu deity Rama on the site. The official death toll across both days was 15, though the VHP claimed to have identified 59 victims.