Babri Masjid row: Archaeologist questions suppression of beef bones findings at disputed site

Lucknow: Archeologist appointed by the Allahabad High Court to observe the ASI-conducted excavation in 2003, at the behest of the Sunni Central Waqf Board, has raised the question, why did the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) throw away animal bones discovered at the disputed Babri Masjid-Ramjanmabhumi site in Ayodhya?

According to Huffington Post, Syed Ali Nadeem Rezavi, a professor of medieval Indian history and chairman of the Centre of Advanced Studies, Department Of History, Aligarh Muslim University revealed, “In front of our eyes, they were throwing basket full of bones. They were not recording or analysing them.”

Rezavi, who was an observer at the excavation site said, “They were just throwing them away because they were uncomfortable with this type of evidence.”

Rezavi claimed that cooked animal bones were found in every layer that was excavated, which correspond to the time period from the 9th century to the present. He noted that the findings proved there was a never a temple where the Babri Masjid stood until it was demolished by Hindu karsevaks on 6 December 1992.

Pointing out that cooked animal bones would never be found at the site of a Vaishnav temple devoted to Hindu god Ram, Rezavi questioned, “The ASI said there was a temple under the mosque but we encountered beef bones on the site. Were these Brahmin meat eaters? Were they eating beef in the temple?”