India’ Apex Court Orders Revival of Proceedings against Babri Mosque Breakers
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| Mosque Breakers on Babri domes. |
By
IOL South Asia Correspondent
NEW
DELHI, July 30 (IslamOnline) - India’s Supreme Court gave eight
week’s time Monday, July 29, to the government of Uttar Pradesh (UP)
state to decide whether legal proceedings should be revived against
some important Central ministers and Hindu nationalist leaders for
their involvement in demolishing the historic Babri Masjid in December
1992.
A
bench comprising Justice GB Patnaik and Justice Ruma Pal passed the
order following UP government attorney KK Venugopal’s submission
that his government wanted to "reconsider" the case.
Some
of the top leaders of Hindu nationalist organisations, including the
current Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani and central ministers Murli
Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti, were notified they would be tried in
special courts for inciting riotous crowds to tear down the mosque.
However,
the case took a new turn when on February 8 last year the Lucknow
bench of Allahabad high court quashed the government notification on
grounds of some "technical" and procedural errors which the
state government was supposed to rectify and to file another case in
the court.
This
has held up the trial ever since. The high court had in its ruling
said that the government could issue a fresh notification after
rectifying the errors to restart the trial.
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| Prime suspect in the Babri destruction case, India's current Interior Minister LK Advani a day before the Mosque's destruction. |
As
the Hindu nationalist Bhartiya Janata Party was ruling the state till
recently, it refrained from issuing fresh notification for the trial
of its own leaders. The same party has been heading the ruling
coalition at the Center as well.
The
Supreme Court’s orders came on three petitions filed by one Aslam
Bhure, famous journalist and member of Parliament Kuldip Nayar, and an
NGO called Society for Justice.
In
Uttar Pradesh, the BJP does not rule directly now, but it is still a
junior partner in the coalition government in the state. The leader of
the major partner in the coalition, Mayawati, who is also UP chief
minister, promised at the time of forming her government that she
would start legal cases against the mosque destroyers.
Mayawati’s
party, Bahujan Samaj Party which represents the Dalits or the
so-called "untouchables", swept the polls with Muslim
support earlier this year. Thousands of Muslims were killed during the
demolition of Babri mosque in 1992 as well as during the preceding
movement to destroy the mosque which was spearheaded by the current
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, LK Advani who is one
of the main accused in the Babri destruction case.
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