Senior leaders of India’s ruling party have been charged over the destruction of a mosque in 1992.
A special court has charged members of the BJP with criminal conspiracy in relation to events leading up to the 16th Century Babri mosque being destroyed.
Former BJP chief Lal Krishna Advani, veteran leader Murli Manohar Joshi and federal minister Uma Bharti were among those charged in the court on Tuesday, 30 May.
They were accused of making inflammatory speeches that encouraged Hindu mobs to tear down the mosque in the city of Ayodhya.
The riots that followed that year killed nearly 2,000 people.
Hindus claim the mosque is the birthplace of one of their most revered deities, Lord Ram, and that it was built after the destruction of a Hindu temple by a Muslim invader in the 16th Century.
Hindus want a temple built at the site, while Muslims want a new mosque.
All three leaders were granted bail.
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