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Charges dropped against Indian deputy PM

A court yesterday dismissed charges that India's deputy prime minister incited crowds that demolished an ancient mosque 11 years ago, an act that set off a cycle of violence that has killed thousands of people since.

Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani, the No. 2 leader of the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and a possible future prime minister, was present in the northern city of Ayodhya on Dec. 6, 1992, when tens of thousands of Hindu activists razed the 16th century Babri Mosque with spades, crowbars and their bare hands.

The attack on the mosque led to nationwide riots in which 2,000 people died. Last year, riots killed nearly 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, in western Gujarat state after Muslims incinerated a train car carrying 60 Hindu pilgrims from Ayodhya.

Human Resources and Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi and former Sports Minister Uma Bharti are among the other seven accused who still face charges when the court takes up the case again on Oct. 10.

Joshi said Thursday he would resign if the court charges him.

The Central Bureau of Investigation, India's equivalent of the FBI, had charged Advani with incitement resulting in the destruction of a religious building and causing a breakdown of law and order.

Judge V.K. Singh issued his ruling yesterday in a special CBI court in the small town of Rae Bareli in northern Uttar Pradesh state.

The dropping of the charges was a major victory for the Hindu-nationalist BJP. The party came to power in 1998 largely because of the publicity it gained over the destruction of the mosque and the campaign to build a temple there to the Hindu god Rama.

Hindu hardliners claim that the mosque was built by Muslim rulers on the site of a more ancient temple that marked Rama's birthplace.

Muslims say there is no proof of that, and the two groups are involved in a separate civil case over ownership of the property.

BJP-controlled Gujurat, meanwhile, said yesterday it would seek a fresh trial for 20 men acquitted of involvement in religious riots.

Last week the Supreme Court slammed the Gujarat government for its failure to punish those involved in last year's Hindu-Muslim clashes after a court exonerated 20 Hindus, charged with killing 12 people in a bakery, for lack of evidence.

The gruesome killing of the 12 men, mostly Muslims, in Baroda city was one of the most barbaric incidents in the state when rampaging Hindu groups sought revenge after 59 Hindu pilgrims were burned alive in a train by a Muslim mob.

More than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed in the reprisal attacks.

The state government would immediately amend its appeal against the acquittal of the 20 people and seek a retrial, Gujarat's most senior bureaucrat, P.K. Lahiri, told the Supreme Court.

Last week Supreme Court Chief Justice V.N. Khare had termed the state government's earlier appeal "eyewash," saying the draft was not strong enough and suggested the administration resign if it could not enforce the rule of law.

The court's strong criticism of the Gujarat government, in response to an appeal by the independent National Human Rights Commission and a witness seeking a fresh trial in the case, led to calls for the resignation of chief minister Narendra Modi.

Modi, who was chief minister of the state during the riots and was accused of turning a blind eye to the slaughter of Muslims, was re-elected in polls held late last year.

Critics accuse Modi's BLP of a longstanding bias against India's minority Muslims, charges the party denies.

Gujarat has so far failed to convict anyone for the riots, the country's worst religious violence in a decade, although trials are going on in several courts. Muslims say they have no hope of winning justice in the state.
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