The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) that conducts board exams has assured of initiating against those set the question paper of Sociology of Class 12. The nation’s top education body said it found an “inappropriate question” in paper.

The question on the 2002 Gujarat riots asked which party was in power in the state when the killings took place. One of the questions in Class 12 Sociology Term 1 exam asked, “The unprecedented scale and spread of anti-Muslim violence in Gujarat in 2002 took place under which government ?”

It gave four choices to answer: “Congress, BJP, Democratic, Republican.”

The CBSE tweeted that it has acknowledged the error.

The question asked was inappropriate and in violation of the CBSE guidelines for external subject experts for setting question papers. CBSE acknowledges the error made and will take strict action against the responsible persons.

Over a thousand people were killed in riots after a coach of Sabarmati Express was burnt in Gujarat’s Godhra in 2002. The train was carrying Hindu pilgrims; 59 of them died in the fire.

In a closure report in February 2012, a special investigation team exonerated Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was Chief Minister of Gujarat in 2002, and 63 others citing “no prosecutable evidence”.