NEW DELHI, 30 August 2003 — A group of Indian archaeologists said yesterday that a government body’s finding that an ancient Hindu temple once stood on a site disputed by Muslims was biased and based on distorted evidence.
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) said this week that a temple pre-dated the 16th century Babri Masjid in the northern town of Ayodhya after a five-month excavation ordered by a court to resolve the explosive row between Hindus and minority Muslims.
But the group of historians and archaeologists said the ASI’s report was aimed at strengthening the claims of Hindu hard-liners who have long demanded that a temple be built on the ruins of the mosque destroyed by Hindu fanatics in 1992.
“Its only aim is to ignore and twist the evidence as to make it suit its conclusions about the previous existence of a temple,” reputed historian Irfan Habib told a news conference.
The ASI said it had found pillar bases, circular shrines and lotus motifs suggesting that a temple existed before a mosque was built on top of it.
“Such pillar bases are a myth, they are neither pillars nor bases,” Habib said and added that circular shrines were prevalent in Muslim architecture as well.
More than 3,000 people died in the riots that erupted nationwide after the mosque was destroyed which Muslims say must be rebuilt.
India’s ruling Hindu fundamentalist Bharatiya Janata Party has said that a temple must be built after the findings of the experts.
The Allahabad High Court which ordered the excavation has yet to give a decision on the expert group’s findings.
Meanwhile, police in Ahmedabad said yesterday that they had arrested five Muslims on suspicion of working with militants and Pakistani intelligence operatives to orchestrate an attack last year on a Hindu temple in the riot-hit western state of Gujarat.
