An Indian court today sentenced 11 people to death for setting fire to a train in the western state of Gujarat in 2002, lawyers said.
The train was carrying Hindu devotees returning from the site of a mosque in northern India that was demolished by Hindu mobs in 1992. The attack led to some of the worst religious riots in the country since independence: More than 2,500 people, mostly Muslims, were killed in the subsequent riots, human rights groups say.
Critics say the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which rules Gujarat, did little to stop the violence, and many believe the riots led to the defeat of the BJP in federal elections in 2004 to the Congress party.
The special court last week found 31 people guilty of conspiracy and murder, a judgment that seemed to back the BJP's stance the arson was planned to spark off riots. Opponents say the fire in the town of Godhra was accidental and was used as an excuse for the violence.
The death sentences must be confirmed by a higher court. The rest of the convicts were sentenced to life imprisonment, prosecutor J.M. Panchal told reporters outside the courtroom.
"The prosecution case has been vindicated," Jainarayan Vyas, a spokesman for the Gujarat government, told CNN-IBN television.
Following the riots, the United States refused to issue a visa to Narendra Modi, the state's business-friendly chief minister. The Indian Supreme Court condemned his government as "modern-day Neros" who allowed killings with impunity.
Many human rights groups say the riots have been used by Islamists to recruit Indian Muslims to militant groups. The Indian Mujahideen, a local militant group, has cited these riots for the several bombings it has claimed.
Reuters