: Digging For An End To The Ayodhya Conflict<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Will excavating under the rubble of the Babri Masjid in India will determine once and for all the ownership of the land? Don't count on it.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2003\/06\/digging_for_an_end_to_the_ayodhya_conflict\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\": Digging For An End To The Ayodhya Conflict\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Will excavating under the rubble of the Babri Masjid in India will determine once and for all the ownership of the land? Don't count on it.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2003\/06\/digging_for_an_end_to_the_ayodhya_conflict\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"altmuslim\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2003-06-18T06:05:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Shahed Amanullah\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Shahed Amanullah\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2003\/06\/digging_for_an_end_to_the_ayodhya_conflict\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2003\/06\/digging_for_an_end_to_the_ayodhya_conflict\/\",\"name\":\": Digging For An End To The Ayodhya Conflict\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2003-06-18T06:05:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2003-06-18T06:05:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/0e0efbb645cc461c721083358f82f945\"},\"description\":\"Will excavating under the rubble of the Babri Masjid in India will determine once and for all the ownership of the land? Don't count on it.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2003\/06\/digging_for_an_end_to_the_ayodhya_conflict\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2003\/06\/digging_for_an_end_to_the_ayodhya_conflict\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2003\/06\/digging_for_an_end_to_the_ayodhya_conflict\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\": Digging For An End To The Ayodhya Conflict\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/\",\"name\":\"altmuslim\",\"description\":\"Global perspectives on Muslim life, politics & culture\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/0e0efbb645cc461c721083358f82f945\",\"name\":\"Shahed Amanullah\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6c9ebfb8c37dbc2e9865b291bbaeff08?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6c9ebfb8c37dbc2e9865b291bbaeff08?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Shahed Amanullah\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/author\/shahedamanullah\/\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":": Digging For An End To The Ayodhya Conflict","description":"Will excavating under the rubble of the Babri Masjid in India will determine once and for all the ownership of the land? Don't count on it.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2003\/06\/digging_for_an_end_to_the_ayodhya_conflict\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":": Digging For An End To The Ayodhya Conflict","og_description":"Will excavating under the rubble of the Babri Masjid in India will determine once and for all the ownership of the land? Don't count on it.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2003\/06\/digging_for_an_end_to_the_ayodhya_conflict\/","og_site_name":"altmuslim","article_published_time":"2003-06-18T06:05:20+00:00","author":"Shahed Amanullah","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Shahed Amanullah","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2003\/06\/digging_for_an_end_to_the_ayodhya_conflict\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2003\/06\/digging_for_an_end_to_the_ayodhya_conflict\/","name":": Digging For An End To The Ayodhya Conflict","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#website"},"datePublished":"2003-06-18T06:05:20+00:00","dateModified":"2003-06-18T06:05:20+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/0e0efbb645cc461c721083358f82f945"},"description":"Will excavating under the rubble of the Babri Masjid in India will determine once and for all the ownership of the land? Don't count on it.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2003\/06\/digging_for_an_end_to_the_ayodhya_conflict\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2003\/06\/digging_for_an_end_to_the_ayodhya_conflict\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2003\/06\/digging_for_an_end_to_the_ayodhya_conflict\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":": Digging For An End To The Ayodhya Conflict"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/","name":"altmuslim","description":"Global perspectives on Muslim life, politics & culture","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/0e0efbb645cc461c721083358f82f945","name":"Shahed Amanullah","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6c9ebfb8c37dbc2e9865b291bbaeff08?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6c9ebfb8c37dbc2e9865b291bbaeff08?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Shahed Amanullah"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/author\/shahedamanullah\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/530"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1784"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1784\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

<\/div>\n

<\/p><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

A seemingly intractable conflict is continuing in India, and like all good conflicts, this one involves competing claims to the same land. The destruction<\/a> of the 500-year old Babri Masjid in Ayodhya over a decade ago (by Hindu activists who claim the mosque was built over an ancient temple) precipitated communal violence and court battles that have continued to this day. Caught between Muslim groups who want to see the mosque rebuilt, and Hindu groups (led by the VHP, Shiv Sena, and other radical Hindu groups) who are eager to begin construction<\/a> of the Ram Janmabhoomi temple, the Indian government proposed an excavation<\/a> of the site by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to determine whether (as Hindu groups claim) the Babri Masjid was built on the ruins of an older Hindu temple. Ideally, this would be the precursor for a negotiated settlement of the land dispute. But after much digging, the first report<\/a> of the joint Hindu\/Muslim team submitted its first report this week, which states that no temple remains like below the demolished mosque. The report stated that finds<\/a> in the area were of either Muslim or common origin. \u201cThere is no temple<\/a> structure of early medieval period at the site,\u201d said archaeolgist Suraj Bhan. \u201cThe Babri mosque structure was superimposed on [a] Sultanate mosque.\u201d Not surprisingly, the VHP and other Hindu groups rejected<\/a> the initial findings, but the BJP government of Vajpayee is simply bypassing the report and offering a deal where Muslims would give up claims in Ayodhya in exchange for relinquishing Hindu claims on other mosques in India \u2013 a move that the VHP and Shiv Sena are sure to reject<\/a>. Hindu officials are urging Muslims to forsake the Ayodhya claim<\/a> in the interest of \u201ccommunal amity\u201d (which is more or less a polite way of saying \u201cGive up your claim or we\u2019ll riot.\u201d) The ASI\u2019s final report should be completed<\/a> by July 1st, 2003.<\/p>\n

<\/i><\/p>\n

Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"