Three senior figures within India’s ruling party will be prosecuted for alleged criminal conspiracy over the 1992 demolition of a mosque in northern India, the country’s Supreme Court ruled Wednesday.
The Babri Masjid was built in the towna of Ayodhya in the 16th century on the site where some Hindus believe Lord Rama, one of the most revered deities in Hinduism, was born.
It was torn down in December 1992 by a mob of Hindus, many using crowbars or bare hands.
L.K. Advani, Uma Bharati, and Murli Manohar Joshi of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will stand trial in the case. They are accused along with five other Hindu leaders — two of whom are now dead — of taking part in a 1990 criminal conspiracy to demolish the mosque.
Destruction of mosque led to revenge attacks
The demolition sparked religious riots across the country in which more than 2,000 people died.
Dozens of temples and mosques were also targeted in a series of revenge attacks by Hindu and Muslim mobs.
The violence was some of worst seen in India since the bloody clashes that accompanied partition following independence in 1947.
The Supreme Court ruled that the trial must conclude within two years.
