INDIA: Indian archeologists have failed to resolve competing claims of Hindus and Muslims following excavations at the country's worst communal flashpoint.
The Archeological Survey of India was asked by the Uttar Pradesh state to establish whether there was once a temple on the site of the 16th century Babri mosque at Ayodhya, 400 miles southeast of New Delhi as claimed by Hindu fundamentalists. The Mughal emperor Babar built the mosque and it remained on the site until Hindu zealots tore it down 11 years ago.
The mob, allegedly supported by senior politicians in government today, claimed the mosque was built in 1528 after razing a temple that had marked the birth place of their god, Rama. Within hours of the demolition, sectarian riots broke out across India, especially in Bombay, in which over 2,000 people, mostly Muslims, died.
Last year, a three-month long pogrom of Muslims in which over 1,000 were killed, erupted in western Gujarat after a train carrying 58 Hindu pilgrims home from Ayodhya was set on fire, allegedly by a Muslim mob. The National Human Rights Commission, independent observers and the Opposition accused the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party that governs Gujarat and heads the federal coalition of "supporting" the killings.
Meanwhile, lawyers representing Hindus and Muslims are disputing the findings that the excavation revealed a 10th century "structure" whose features "seem characteristic of a north Indian temple of those times". While the lawyer for the Hindus claimed this vindicated his stand, the lawyer for the Muslims declared that only a "structure " existed at the spot and there was no positive proof of a temple.
"Findings like human figurines, earthen stoves and the pillar bases in a particular alignment show it was a temple on which a mosque was built," said Mr Vireshwar Dwivedi, lawyer for the Rama Birthplace Trust.