Buddhists file SC plea, claim Babri land theirs
A petition claiming that the disputed land at the site of the Babri mosque in Ayodhya belonged to Buddhists has been filed in the Supreme Court. The special leave petition (SLP) has been filed by Dr Udit Raj, chairman of the Buddha Education Foundation and all-India Confederation of SC/ ST Organisations.
Dr Raj has claimed that there were suggestions in the reports of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), and also in the judgement of the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court, which gave its verdict on the Babri masjid title suit on September 23, 2010, indicating that the place was a Buddhist monastery and, hence, it should be handed over to the followers of the faith. He, however, said that if the Hindus and the Muslims accepted the verdict given by the Lucknow bench, and do not go further in appeal, he would withdraw the petition.
Talking to reporters here on Friday, Dr Raj, along with former Union minister Sanghpriya Gautam, said the SLP filed before the Supreme Court on Thursday quotes from the judgments of Justices Sudhir Agrawal and S.U. Khan wherein they have referred to the “Kasauti pillars” of the Babri mosque being quite similar to the ones seen in Buddhist monasteries in Varanasi. Dr Raj argued that in a 2003 report the ASI had said that there was a circular shrine beneath the disputed structure. “It was mostly likely a Buddhist monastery,” said Dr Raj, adding that the references to the structures being similar to north Indian temples did not mean that it could only be a Hindu temple. The north Indian temples could be that of Hindus, Jains and Buddhists, he said.
“Had the Hindus and Muslims brought an end to the dispute and accepted the judgment, we would have not made this move. We are the real claimants, but in the larger interest of the nation we would have foregone our claim. But now, since both parties have appealed in the Supreme Court, why should we, who are the real claimants, remain silent,” asked Mr Gautam.
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