Slab is key to the Ayodhya tangle

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Lucknow, Sep 3

 

 

 

 

By Vinay Krishna Rastogi

 

 

 

VHP, Shiv Sena and Bajrang Dal activists strongly believe in "the

magical power" of a stone slab to resolve the Ayodhya dispute.

 

The 12th century stone inscription was recovered from the debris of

the disputed structure on December 6, 1992. The Hindu leaders believe

that it holds key to the Ayodhya tangle.

 

The 1.10 metre by 0.56 metre buff sandstone found broken into two

pieces from the debris of the Babri Mosque was inspected by a team of

experts from the Archaeological Survey of India in March 2000 on the

directives of the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court.

 

It has since been kept at the Rama Katha Kunj in Ayodhya under the

seal of the high court.

 

The President of the Shri Ram Janmabhomi Trust Mahant Ram Chandra

Paramhans says that the inscription refers to a temple of Ram temple

built by King Naya Chandra.

 

VHP leaders refer to verse 21 which says that stone slabs chiselled

from big mountain rocks were arranged to construct a Ram Temple.

 

The inscription refers twice to GAHADAVALA king Govind Chandra who

ruled from 1114 to 1154 AD. Naya Chandra was a vassal of Govind

Chandra. The inscription is written in Nagri script which was in

vogue in the 11th and 12th century.

 

The Muslim and leftist leaders however dispute the authenticity of

the inscription and the stone slabs which has verses on Lord Rama.

They say that the inscription looks external and imported and is not

part of the interior of the mosque or the temple.

 

The President of the All India Muslim Forum N. Nihaluddin argues that

the evidence is suspect because the excavation was not done "under

controlled conditions or in the usual planned and scientific way

which is generally done by archaeologists."

 

Organizations like the state unit of Indian Union Muslim League,

Tanzeem Labaik argue that the inscription surfaced at the time of the

Kar Sewa and it is quite possible that it was brought from some where

and placed in the debris. It is quite possible that it was not part

of the wall that the VHP claims it was.

 

The VHP and Bajrang Dal leaders quote Chairman of the Indian

Archaeological Society S. P. Gupta who had reportedly offered Rs 5

lakhs to anyone who could duplicate the inscription. "Let the All

India Muslim Personal Law Board and the All India Babri Masjid

Reconstruction Committee accept the challenge," they argue.

 

VHP leaders, some BJP MLAs and chief of the UP unit of the Shiv Sena

Vijay Tewari refer to the inscription as the Key Theory of Acharya

Kishore Kunal who took premature retirement from the Indian Police

Service and is at present vice-chancellor of the Darbhanga

University.

 

The Hindu leaders are demanding that the stone slab's date and the

date of the writing inscription could be verified by independent

organizations like the UNESCO.

 

But under UNESCO's regulations the body gets involved only when a

member country seeks its advice and expertise. The Indian Government

has so far made no such request to UNESCO.