Indian court drops charges against Hindu politician

Bal Thackeray

July 25, 2000
Web posted at: 5:10 p.m. HKT (0910 GMT)

In this story: Accused of inciting violence Tension eases in Bombay Security tight RELATED STORIES, SITES

From staff and wire reports

BOMBAY, India -- Shortly after politician Bal Thackeray was arrested Tuesday and taken to court, charges were dropped against the influential Hindu politician because they exceeded the statute of limitations.

The court said Tuesday that too much time had passed between the seven-year-old alleged offenses -- he was accused of inciting violence -- and Thackeray's appearance to answer the charges.

Thackeray said that he went to court willingly.

"This drama has to end somewhere. The people cannot be so tense endlessly," he said.

The charge Thackeray faced -- promoting enmity between groups on grounds of religion, race or place of birth -- carried a maximum penalty of three years in prison.

Accused of inciting violence

Thackeray -- leader of the Shiv Sena party, the third- largest party in India's coalition government -- was accused of ordering his party workers through articles in his party newspaper Samna, or Revenge, to attack Muslims to avenge the killings of Hindus in 1993.

More than 2,000 people were killed in nationwide violence in 1992-93, more than one-third in Bombay, after the ancient Babri mosque was razed by Hindu fundamentalists in Ayodhya in northern India in December 1992.

Hindus said the mosque was built hundreds of years ago on the traditional birthplace of one of Hinduism's link.atal.bihari.vajpayee.jpg chief deities, Ram.

Police had registered cases against Thackeray in the past, but they had never arrested him. Most of the charges had been dismissed by Maharashtra state, which had been governed by the Shiv Sena and Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's party for five years until its defeat in October elections.

Thackeray, a powerful regional politician, holds no official position. His party is the main opposition party in Maharashtra state, and a partner in Vajpayee's national governing coalition in New Delhi.

Vajpayee shuffled his Cabinet during the weekend because of disputes among his ministers about how to react to Thackeray's case.

Last week, three Cabinet ministers from Thackeray's party offered to resign, but Vajpayee rejected the resignations.

On Saturday, the law minister was told to resign because he had publicly disagreed with the government's position that the decision on Thackeray's arrest rested with Maharashtra state, and that the Indian government should not be involved.

Tension eases in Bombay

Thackeray had been arrested by Indian police earlier Tuesday, and appeared in court after being escorted from his northwestern Bombay home in a caravan of 500 officers.

"The only way to end the impasse is by going to court," Thackeray told reporters before getting into his car, which became part of a police caravan.

"If I get bail, it is good. If I get jail, what happens will not be so good," he said.

On the streets of Bombay, India's financial capital, people panicked at the news of Thackeray's arrest. Many schools closed and shopkeepers around the courthouse pulled metal shutters down to protect their windows. However, the tension reportedly eased after Thackeray's release.

Thackeray's supporters had threatened blood would flow on Bombay's streets if he were arrested. "Long live Thackeray," his supporters chanted as the police officers surrounded him outside his home.

Security tight

Meanwhile, blue-uniformed Rapid Reaction Force commandos barricaded the small lane leading to the courthouse, and stood guard with semiautomatic machine-guns.

Despite Thackeray's release, security, which had been tightened with 60,000 paramilitary troops and police in anticipation of his court appearance, stood on guard throughout Bombay.

Chhagan Bhujbal, the state's home minister, said on television that there was no reason to worry about security-related issues.

"I am confident that law and order in the state will be under control, and am sure there will be no problem in the state following Bal Thackeray's arrest," Bhujbal told Star TV.

"We want to prove that in this democratic country no one is above the law and so we have gone ahead with the law," he said.

CNN New Delhi Bureau Chief Satinder Bindra, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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