69 Hindus acquitted in 2002 Gujarat riots case, including BJP's Maya Kodnani.
An Indian court has acquitted 69 Hindus, including a former minister from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), of the murder of 11 Muslims during communal riots in the western state of Gujarat in 2002. The killings occurred a day after a suspected Muslim mob set fire to a train carrying Hindu pilgrims, setting off one of independent India’s worst outbreaks of religious bloodshed. Critics accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was chief minister at the time, of failing to protect Muslims.