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Indian court acquits Hindu nationalist leaders in mosque demolition case

Indian court acquits Hindu nationalist leaders in mosque demolition case

By Reuters

FILE - In this July 28, 2005 file photo, Indian opposition leader and President of the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) L.K. Advani, second right, senior BJP leaders Uma Bharati, right, Kalyan Singh, second left, and Murli Manohar Joshi wave to people during a public rally in Rae Bareilly, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. India's top court said Wednesday, April 19, 2017, that the four senior leaders of India's ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party will stand trial for their role in a criminal conspiracy over the destruction of the 16th century Babri mosque in 1992, an event that sparked bloody nationwide rioting. Of the four main leaders who will now stand trial, Singh is currently the governor of an Indian province, and the constitution protects him from criminal trial. Therefore his trial will start after his term ends. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh, File)

LUCKNOW: An Indian court on Wednesday acquitted Hindu nationalist leaders, including former deputy prime minister Lal Krishna Advani, in a case over the demolition of a mosque at a disputed site 28 years ago, citing a lack of evidence. The demolition sparked nationwide riots that killed more than 3,000 people in a decades-long dispute that has fuelled Hindu-Muslim tension, as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's campaign for Hindu renaissance helped bring it to power. Handing down its verdict after a lengthy legal battle, the court said there was not enough evidence to directly tie any of the accused to the violence, defence lawyer Manish Kumar Tripathi said. 'The court did not accept the evidence, it was not strong enough,' Tripathi told reporters at the courthouse. Advani, who was then BJP chief, was among 32 people accused of criminal conspiracy and inciting a mob to tear down the 16th-century Babri mosque in the northern town of Ayodhya in 1992. The mosque stood on a site revered by devout Hindus as the birthplace of the god-king Ram. The court pinned the blame on miscreants mingled among the crowd instead, adding that leaders such as Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, another former cabinet minister, had tried to keep the mob from turning violent. Last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for a Hindu temple to be built at the site, disputed after the Supreme Court paved the way last year, in a decision that also ordered land to be allotted further away for a mosque. The court had ignored all the evidence in Wednesday's case, said Zafaryab Jilani, a lawyer for the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, adding that it planned to appeal to the high court against the decision. 'We will seek remedy,' he added.