India’s top court orders mediation in Hindu temple dispute

Indian workers gather next to the remains of a Hindu temple before carrying on with demolition work in the Lahori Tola area of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh state. (File/AFP)

• It is hearing petitions challenging a 2010 lower court ruling that 1.12 hectares (2.77 acres) of disputed land be partitioned among the Hindus and the Muslims
• The destruction of the mosque in Ayodhya in 1992 sparked massive Hindu-Muslim violence in the country, leaving 2,000 people dead

NEW DELHI: India’s top court has set up a mediation team to try to settle a land dispute between Muslims and Hindus over plans to build a Hindu temple on a site where hard-liners demolished a 16th century mosque.
Attorney Vishnu Jain says the court on Friday gave the three-member team four weeks to submit its report.
If the mediation bid fails, the Supreme Court will settle the dispute.
It is hearing petitions challenging a 2010 lower court ruling that 1.12 hectares (2.77 acres) of disputed land be partitioned among the Hindus and the Muslims.
The destruction of the mosque in Ayodhya in 1992 sparked massive Hindu-Muslim violence in the country, leaving 2,000 people dead.