Faizel Patel – 30/09/2020
An Indian court has acquitted all 32 people accused of crimes in a 1992 attack and demolition of a 16th century masjid that sparked Hindu-Muslim violence leaving some 2,000 people dead.
The Associated Press (AP) reports that four senior leaders of the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had been among the defendants at the trial that languished in India’s sluggish legal system for almost 28 years.
Seventeen of the 49 accused died of natural causes during the trial.
The four party leaders were accused of making inflammatory speeches that incited tens of thousands of their followers who had camped out in Ayodhya ahead of the attack on the masjid.
Last year, India’s Supreme Court ruled in favor of building of a Hindu temple on the disputed site. Hindus believe their god Ram was born there and claim Muslim Emperor Babur built a mosque on top of a temple at the site.
The Supreme Court also ruled the demolition of the Babri Masjid violated the law and ordered the trial in the mosque demolition case be held separately.
Judge Surendra Kumar Yadav ruled there was no criminal conspiracy to attack the masjid by hardline Hindu activists and no conclusive evidence to prove it.
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