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Purana Qilla may have been the site of Mahabharata’s Indraprastha: ASI to carry out another round of excavations

OpIndia Staff
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Purana Qilla may have been the site of Mahabharata’s Indraprastha: ASI to carry out another round of excavations

The Archaeological Survey of India has been granted permission to excavate at the fort of Purana Qila in its bid to unearth hidden artefacts beneath the historical site, as per a report in the New Indian Express. Along with Purana Qila, eight other heritage sites in Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Andhra, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana were given the final nod for re-excavation on November 1.

According to an official, the decision for excavation has been taken and budget allotted to carry out the digging. he further added that the site to be dug is yet to be marked following which it may take 4 to 6 weeks for the work to start on the ground. The official confirmed that the fresh excavation would be done at a different location from the previous one.

The ASI believes that a village named Indrapat existed at the site until 1913, which is the direct descendant of Mahabharata’s ‘Indraprastha’, founded by the Pandavas as their capital.

Purana Qilla, the 16th-century fort, was built by Pashtun ruler Sher Shah Suri and second Mughal emperor Humayun. The fort is standing on a site with thousands of years of history. The ASI has already carried out excavation works inside the fort and its premises three times in the past. Twice by noted archaeologist BB Lal (1954 and 1969) and once under the supervision of Vasant Kumar Swarnkar.

Swarnakar had stated to The Indian Express last year that the Purana Qilla site is a place which has cultural deposits from last 2500 years under various layers.

The digging had found out Artefacts such as sickles, parers, terracotta toys, kiln-burnt bricks and painted grey bowls and dishes belonging to the pre-Mauryan period of the third century BC and are displayed at the Archaeological Museum inside the fort complex.

The findings and artefacts unearthed in the excavations comprise painted grey ware, belonging to 1500 BC, and earthen pottery articles from Maurya to Shunga, Kushana, Gupta, Rajput, Sultanates and Mughal periods.

Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari recommends President’s rule in the state

OpIndia Staff
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Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari recommends President’s rule in the state

After it became clear that no party will be able to form a government in the state of Maharashtra, the Governor of the state, Bhagat Singh Koshyari has sent a report to the centre that President’s rule should be imposed in the state.

A statement issued by the Raj Bhavan said, “The Governor of Maharashtra Shri Bhagat Singh Koshyari having been satisfied that as the government of the State of Maharashtra cannot be carried out in accordance with Constitution, has today submitted a report as contemplated by the provisions of Art.356 of the Constitution”.


Earlier yesterday, the situation in the state of Maharashtra was in limbo as Shiv Sena failed to produce the majority needed to form a government in the state. After being assured of supporting the Shiv Sena-NCP government from outside, the Congress party, in a last-minute volte-face, denied extending their support to the Shiv Sena. NCP also didn’t send the required letter of support to Shiv Sena. The Sena then sought 48 hours from the governor to prove the majority by procuring the letter from NCP and Congress.

The Governor then asked the third-largest party in the state-NCP to prove majority. Although they have been given time till 8.30 PM today, it is unliky that they will be able to produce the requisite number of MLAs to stake a claim to the government.

Pulling back the support, Congress had claimed that it needs to consult with its MLAs and NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, while remaining silent on support to Shiv Sena. Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Ahmed Patel and KC Venugopal are slated to meet Sharad Pawar on Monday over the formation of government in the state. Rumours are doing the round that NCP is now mulling over the idea of a rotational chief minister post with the Shiv Sena.

The alliance between the BJP and Shiv Sena bitterly broke after the Sena demanded a rotational chief minister position, contending it was part of the 50-50 formula predecided with the BJP. The BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, however, said that no such arrangement was discussed with Sena before the elections. Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray then snapped ties with the BJP, saying that they have other options open in front of them to fulfil his promise given to Balasaheb Thackeray of installing a Shiv Sena chief minister in Maharashtra one day.

Citing the inability of the political parties to come together to form a government in the state, the Governor sent a report to the Home Ministry, advising the imposition of President’s rule in the state. It is expected that the union government will soon take a decision regarding the imposition of President rule in Maharashtra.

Maharashtra: Shiv Sena to move Supreme Court against governor for declining to extend time, Kapil Sibal to represent the party

OpIndia Staff
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Maharashtra: Shiv Sena to move Supreme Court against governor for declining to extend time, Kapil Sibal to represent the party

The Shiv Sena is preparing to approach the Supreme Court against Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari’s decision refusing to give more time to Sena to prove their ability to form the government in Maharashtra. It is being reported that Sena is going to rope in senior lawyer and Congress leader Kapil Sibal to present its case in court.

Shiv Sena, which pulled out its nominee Arvind Swant from the Union Cabinet yesterday, had hoped to form a government with support from the Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress. However, moments after Shiv Sena leaders led by Aditya Thackeray met the Maharashtra governor to inform that it is willing to form the government, both NCP and Congress clarified that they have not sent any letter of support for Shiv Sena. A press release issued by the Congress also mentioned that the party was talking to Sharad Pawar, while didn’t mention anything about Shiv Sena.

The governor had given a deadline of 7.30 PM today to Shiv Sena to inform its willingness and ability to form the government. Accordingly, Sena leaders met governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and informed that they are willing to form the government, but needed two more days to show its ability to do so.

After Sena failed to show the requisite letters of support to the Governor, the third-largest party, Sharad Pawar’s NCP, was invited to form the government in the state. But it is unlikely that NCP will also be able to form government, as Shiv Sena may not support them, and NCP – Congress combine does not have required numbers.

According to latest reports, the Maharashtra governor has recommended President’s rule for the state, even though the deadline given to NCP to stake claim has not expired yet.

Defence analyst slams Nidhi Razdan’s claim that she countered Pakistan at UK Kashmir event, exposes her lies and anti-India statements

OpIndia Staff
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Defence analyst slams Nidhi Razdan’s claim that she countered Pakistan at UK Kashmir event, exposes her lies and anti-India statements

After an OpIndia report that detailed how Nidhi Razdan had made ill-informed, anti-statements in a UK event based on Kashmir, Nidhi had launched a tirade and claimed that she, in fact, countered the propaganda of Pakistan at this event held in the UK. Defence analyst Abhijit Iyer Mitra had claimed earlier that Nidhi had found support for her statements even from banned terror outfit JKLF.

Read: NDTV’s Nidhi Razdan attends UK ‘Kashmir’ event, gets endorsed by JKLF

Mitra responded to a Tweet by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy who had claimed that his sources had said that Nidhi Razdan had in fact not said what was being claimed. Mitra said that there were multiple sources confirming that Nidhi Razdan had, in fact, made the very statements as were being claimed.


The statements in question were quoted by PTI and Pakistani news portals. In fact, the statements quoted by OpIndia were credited to India Today, the very report that Nidhi Razdan had herself endorsed as the true picture of her statements.


Defence analyst Abhijit Iyer Mitra came out strongly to slam the anti-India comments made by Nidhi Razdan.


Abhijit says that the first fallacious comment made by Nidhi Razdan at the UK Kashmir event was that there is unprecedented communication blackout in the Kashmir valley. Abhijit says that in 91-92, there was a communication blackout for 6 months when terrorists had blown up a cable tower. Even in 2016, during the riots that followed forces neutralising terrorist Burhan Wani, there was a communication blackout.


Abhijit then slammed Nidhi Razdan’s comment that what was happening in Kashmir was against the principles of democracy. He said that democracy means protecting all civilian lives and not just those of a handful of stone pelters and rioters.

Further, Nidhi had said that ‘all political leaders are in preventive custody without having done anything’. To this, Abhijit said that the custody was “Preventive” which means that they were under custody so they would not disturb the peace.


Nidhi Razdan had also made another terribly ill-informed statement. She essentially said that post the abrogation of Article 370, there has been no violence and yet, there was a communication blackout. However, Abhijit too pointed out that she has conveniently forgotten to mention the vicious murder of migrant labours in Kashmir by terrorists.


Abhijit further added that Nidhi Razdan was way off the mark to say that the people of Kashmir were not consulted before the abrogation of Article 370 as only Sunni Muslims did not make up the ‘people of Kashmir’.

Read: Terrorists shot dead 6 daily wage earners from West Bengal in Jammu and Kashmir

Nidhi Razdan had also said that the leaders who picked up the Indian flag were under detention by India. Iyer pointed out that Geelani took the constitutional oath too and several terrorists took part in the past elections but that doesn’t absolve them of their actions against India.


Senior Former Diplomat Mark Lyall Gratt had claimed that India had deployed 5,00,000 troops in Kashmir. However, this lie was also not countered by Nidhi Razdan where she let the Pakistan propaganda flow easily without countering the lies being peddled against India. To the delights of the Pakistani establishment, Nidhi Razdan had also added that India’s credentials at the world’s largest democracy have been shadowed by the events in Kashmir.

Read: Half a million or 1 million? While media peddles fantastical claims, here are the actual number of troops deployed in Jammu and Kashmir

NDTV finding support in Pakistan is nothing new. Recently, Pakistan had shared an NDTV video to further their anti-India agenda. Earlier in March, NDTV’s star anchor Raveesh Kumar had urged media that they should not report the post-Pulwama India-Pakistan conflict, because it will ‘help BJP in the elections’. Raveesh’ statements were soon used by Pakistani media to further their anti-India narrative.

Recently, radical Islamist Zaid Hamid had used ex-NDTV anchor Barkha Dutt’s tweets to spew venom against India.

NDTV seems to fan its ‘Kashmir is in fear’ narrative so much that they are now bordering on an open call for violence. The clip by NDTV reporter that claimed an old Kashmiri man allegedly challenged India to ‘lift the curfew’ to see the real sentiment of Kashmiri people is nothing but another attempt to further their baseless fearmongering. The way NDTV, and for that matter, many media portals are going on about the issue, it seems as if they are just waiting, rather hoping for a riot to happen and people to die, just so they can claim that the central government has failed and thus help Pakistan further its narrative.

Read: NDTV’s Nidhi Razdan peddles another dangerous narrative about Kashmir, this time, about Hazaratbal shrine and Eid Milad

Today itself, Nidhi Razdan had furthered the Pakistan propaganda regarding India imposing curbs on Kashmiris offering prayers at the Hazratbal shrine.

VHP demands new mosque at Ayodhya be named after patriots like APJ Kalam or Ashfaqullah Khan, not a ‘foreigner’ or ‘attacker’ like Babur

OpIndia Staff
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VHP demands new mosque at Ayodhya be named after patriots like APJ Kalam or Ashfaqullah Khan, not a ‘foreigner’ or ‘attacker’ like Babur

Days after the Supreme Court, in a landmark decision, handed over the Ram Janmabhoomi site in Ayodhya to the Hindu parties and asked the centre to allot 5 acres of alternate land at a prominent location in Ayodhya to the Sunni Waqf Board for the re-construction of a mosque, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Monday said that they would request the Centre not to allow the new mosque to be named Babri Masjid after Babur.


Terming the founder and first Emperor of the Mughal dynasty as an aggressor and foreigner on Indian soil, the VHP spokesperson Sharad Sharma, who looks after the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas Karyashala, where engraved stones for the Ram temple have been kept, said: “Babar was an aakranta (attacker) from a foreign country. We will approach the government to not allow this. There are a lot of good Muslims in India. Their contributions to India’s peace and development are huge..such as Vir Abdul Hamid, Ashfaqullah Khan and former President APJ Abdul Kalam. The new mosque should be named after any of them.

The VHP functionary also said that they demand that Union Minister Amit Shah be a part of the trust which will decide on the planning and construction of the Ram temple.

The Supreme Court has ordered the Central government to formulate a scheme within three months from the verdict for setting up of Trust to build the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. The apex court also ordered the union government to provide 5 acres of land at an alternative site at a prominent location in Ayodhya to the Sunni Waqf Board to rebuild the Babri Masjid which was demolished in 1992.

Read- A walk down memory lane: The ‘liberals’ and ‘seculars’ who mocked Ram Mandir

However, one of the Muslim petitioners said that that name of the mosque was not important. The primary issue was of consensus on whether or not to accept the land for the mosque.

While most of the citizens had welcomed the Supreme Court verdict in the long-pending dispute, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi had sulked after the decision ‘rejecting’ the 5 acres of land offered by the apex court saying, “We were fighting for our right, we don’t need 5 acres of land as a donation, we should reject this offer”.

Owaisi had admitted that he was hurt by the judgment of the Supreme Court as he had asserted that the latest verdict will throw open a can of worms as it will serve to bolster the morale of Sangh Parivar, who will now lay claim to other ‘Muslim’ sites where mosques are standing.

Bailable warrant issued against Shashi Tharoor in defamation case over ‘scorpion on Shivling’ remark

OpIndia Staff
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Bailable warrant issued against Shashi Tharoor in defamation case over ‘scorpion on Shivling’ remark

A bailable warrant has been issued against Congress leader and former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor in a defamation case over the ‘scorpion on a Shivling’ remark he had made against PM Modi last year. As per reports, the warrant has been issued by Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court after Shashi Tharoor failed to appear.


As per reports, the warrant was issued by the district court yesterday after neither Tharoor nor his counsel appeared before the court on the scheduled date. No exemption application has also been reportedly moved from Tharoor’s side.

The court has issued a bailable warrant for the sum of Rs 5000 and has also passed a notice for surety for the next hearing date of 27th November. The complainant, a BJP leader named Rajeev Babbar has also been fined Rs 500 by the court for failing to appear.

As per reports, the case against Tharoor was filed by BJP leader Rajeev Babbar after Tharoor’s controversial remark last year. Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court had on August 7 this year reserved its order.

Read: Shashi Tharoor says PM Modi is like ‘Scorpion on a Shivling, cannot even hit him with the chappal

A number of cases were filed against Tharoor after he made the remarks against PM Modi. Speaking at an event in Bengaluru on October 28 last year, Tharoor had quoted an unnamed ‘source’ in the RSS and had stated that PM Modi is like a scorpion that is sitting on a Shivling, it can neither be hit with a chappal nor can be removed with hand.

Cases were lodged by many BJP leaders against Tharoor in Delhi. In June this year, Tharoor was granted bail by Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal on a personal bond of Rs 20,000 after he appeared before the court and moved bail application.

Congress should not have said they support building Ram Temple: Senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid on Ayodhya verdict

OpIndia Staff
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Congress should not have said they support building Ram Temple: Senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid on Ayodhya verdict

On 9th November 2019, the Supreme Court of India delivered a historic verdict in the Ayodhya case. The entire 67 acre land of Ram Janmabhoomi was handed over to the Hindus to build a Bhavya Ram Mandir and Muslims were granted 5 acres of land alternatively where they could choose to build a mosque. This Supreme Court judgement is perhaps one of the first where the judicial process has been used to solve a historic-cultural issue that has gone on for centuries. The Congress party released an official statement through their spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala. The official stand of the Congress party was that they support and accept the Supreme Court verdict in the Ayodhya case and are in favour of the construction of the Ram Temple at Ram Janmabhoomi.

Read: Supreme Court hands over Ram Janmabhoomi site to Hindus to build Ram Mandir, Sunni Waqf Board to be given an alternate site for the mosque

However, this statement has not gone down well with Salman Khurshid, senior Congress leader who had claimed that Sonia Gandhi cried bitterly for the terrorists after the Batla House encounter.

In an interview to Hindustan Times, Salman Khurshid has said that he would have preferred for Congress to simply say that they support the Supreme Court judgement instead of saying that they support the building of the Ram Temple at Ayodhya.

Read: Hindu massacres and demand for Sharia: The story of Rahul Gandhi’s ally IUML, an offshoot of Jinnah’s Muslim league

Salman Khurshid started off by saying that there is an incorrect assumption that Congress is only for minorities and not for the majorities, but after being prodded by the HT journalist Sunetra Choudhury, who asked him if he as a Muslim leader accepts the Congress stand that a Ram Temple must be built, Salman Khurshid said that if it were him, he would have said things differently.

He said that in their party manifesto, it was clearly mentioned that Congress would honour and respect the Supreme Court judgement in Ayodhya. Further, he said that there were several elements to the judgement. Where the 67 acres land has been given to the Trust that will build a Ram Temple there, another land has been given to Muslims for the mosque. The judgement also talks about 3 incidents that were illegal aggressions against the mosque. Saying that many people would pick and choose what they want to highlight, the Congress party doing so gives the wrong message.

Read: For the first time, Congress mouthpiece National Herald apologizes for article denigrating Hindu sentiments

He said if he had to mention, he would have mentioned the Temple and the mosque both. He said that this question would not have arisen if the Congress party had simply said that they support the Supreme Court judgement.

While defending Randeep Surjewala, Salman Khurshid said that he does his job as the spokesperson and tries to present a balanced view, however, they are not slaves and he would have said things differently.

Read: Congress mouthpiece compares the Supreme Court of India to Pakistan’s after Ayodhya judgement

Salman also admitted that it was decided in the party that the only stand that would be publicly furthered was that they support the Supreme Court judgement. He also said that Congress should have supposed the judgement in totality instead of listing out what specifically they support or not.

On the question, whether this has alienated the Muslim votebank of Congress, Khurshid said that the Muslims of the country also have to understand that these are ‘difficult times’. And they would be alienated if someone walked all over them and trampled them, but the Congress party is not doing that. In respect to Maharashtra and the tie-up with Shiv Sena too, Salman Khurshid said that political parties have to move ahead and cannot be frozen in time. That Shiv Sena has recently been taking stands that should be encouraged and they should be ‘mainstreamed’ by Congress.

BJP ally Lok Janshakti Party to fight Jharkhand elections solo on 50 seats

OpIndia Staff
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BJP ally Lok Janshakti Party to fight Jharkhand elections solo on 50 seats

BJP ally Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) will fight the upcoming Jharkhand elections alone on 50 seats. LJP National President and Jamui, Bihar, Member of Parliament Chirag Paswan today took to Twitter to make the announcement.


Paswan tweeted that the final decision regarding the upcoming Jharkhand elections was to be taken up by the state unit of LJP. The Jharkhand unit of the party decided to go contest elections alone on 50 seats.

Read: Maharashtra Tragicomedy: Shiv Sena digs itself a hole and jumps right in, state possibly headed towards President Rule

He even said that by end of the day the party will release first list of candidates.

The 2019 Jharkhand Assembly elections will be held in 5 phases to elect 81 members from 30th November to 20th December. The results will be declared on 23rd December.

Tamil Nadu: As Pon Manickavel’s Idol Wing wades through legal and bureaucratic delays, hundreds of seized artefacts lie in the open

OpIndia Staff
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Tamil Nadu: As Pon Manickavel’s Idol Wing wades through legal and bureaucratic delays, hundreds of seized artefacts lie in the open

Hundreds of ancient idols and artefacts carved out of wood, stone, bronze and other metals are reportedly lying out in the open at the premises of the CBI-CID’s Economic Offence Wing in Guindy, Chennai.

As per a report in The Hindu, the Tamil Nadu government’s Idol Wing police has its offices at the CBI-CID’s EOW building. The artefacts and idols, seized over the years by the Idol Wing from different locations have simply been dumped on the premises at the mercy of the elements.

The artefacts include centuries-old stone sculptures, idols, stone pillars, wooden artefacts, ‘vahanas’ or ritual vehicles, and other antiquities. They have simply been dumped in the open garages and ground of the building premises. As per the report, the artefacts are separated from the Adyar river by just a wall.

Read: 1000-year-old stolen idols returned to Tamil Nadu, Temple officials allegedly did not notify the Police

The report further states that the artefacts include seized antiquities from several Idol Wing raids over the years. Among these are over 800 stone sculptures that the Idol Wing had recovered in 2016 from the godown and gallery of antique dealer G Deenadayalan in Alwarpet.

Following the Alwarpet raid, 200 wooden artefacts had been recovered from an associate of Deenadayalan in Kuchikadu on the outskirts of Chennai.

These artefacts were seized when the legendary officer AG Pon Manickavel was the Inspector General of the Idol Wing police.

Legal Hurdles

As per The Hindu report, there are several legal and bureaucratic hurdles before the artefacts and idols can be handed over to the rightful owners or custodians. The Idol Wing cannot hand them over before the court trial is over and the trials usually take years.

Read: 600-year-old stolen Nataraja idol being brought back to India, idol wing head reveals TN govt refused fund to bring it back

The Idol Wing has managed to restore some stolen idols in their rightful place after completing the due legal procedure. The famous Kallidaikurichi Nataraja idol was retrieved from Australia and was finally returned to the Sri Kulasekaramudaiyar Temple. Similarly, some idols from the Tanjavur Brihadeeshwara temple that were recovered from the Sarabhai Museum were also restored. However, hundreds of artefacts are still waiting for the completion of legal procedures.

Bureaucratic Red Tape

AG Pon Manickavel, who has been made the special officer of the Idol Wing by court order after his retirement, has been quoted by The Hindu as saying that the government museum at Egmore has refused to allocate space to house the artefacts. Other efforts to procure shelter for the artefacts are also tangled up in departmental process and paperwork.

A Times Of India report in March this year had mentioned how the government museum at Egmore had asked the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment (HR & CE) department to provide strong rooms for the over 410 artefacts dumped on their campus by the Idol Wing police.

Unable to find a suitable place for the artefacts, the museum had finally asked the HR & CE department to take the artefacts back as they needed the space for development work.

Some experts have suggested that just as the ASI has opened a special museum in Delhi’s Purana Quilla for seized artefacts, the Tamil Nadu government should also do something similar.

Give us 5 acres within 67 acres of Ram Janmabhoomi only, our kabristan and dargah are there: Muslim litigants demand

OpIndia Staff
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Give us 5 acres within 67 acres of Ram Janmabhoomi only, our kabristan and dargah are there: Muslim litigants demand

Iqbal Ansari, the main litigant in Ayodhya case, has demanded that the 5 acre land allotted to the Muslim parties be given on the 67 acres land that has been given for the Ram Janmabhoomi. The Supreme Court in a historic judgement on Saturday gave the entire 67 acre land, which included the disputed property where Babri Masjid was constructed after destroying existing temple, to the Hindus for construction of Ram Mandir.

Ansari, along with several other Muslim leaders has demanded that if the central government is to give them the land as per Supreme Court’s directive, “it should be according to their convenience and only on that 67 acres of land.” Reportedly, he has said that if the land is not allotted as per their demands then they will not accept it.

Read: We don’t want donation, we don’t need 5 acres land: AIMIM chief Owaisi whines after SC verdict on Ram Janmabhoomi

A local cleric, Maulana Jalal Ashraf said that Muslims are capable of buying their own land building a mosque and are not dependent on the government for the same. However, to ‘pacify their sentiments to some extent’, the five acre of land must be given on the 67 acre land which has been allotted to the Hindus as many ‘kabristan (graveyards) and dargahs’ are on that land. Khaliq Ahmed Khan, All India Milli Council General Secretary and also a litigant from Muslims’ side in Babri case, said that the government must give them the 16 plots of land within the 67 acres which have ‘graveyard’ and a ‘dargah’ on it.

Another litigant from the Muslim side, Haji Mahboob, said that they will not accept the five acre plot which is given as a ‘lollipop’. Ayodhya Municipal corporator, Haji Asad Ahmad said that they would not like this ‘donation’ given in lieu of Babri Masjid. “If the court or government wants to give us land, it must be on the 67 acres land or we don’t want it,” he was quoted by news agency PTI.

Read: Mughal descendant Prince Tucy says he will keep up his promise and donate the first ‘gold brick’ for Ram Temple

Echoing these sentiments, Maulana Badshah Khan, Ayodhya President of Jamiat Ulema Hind said that since their fight was for Babri Masjid and not for any other land, and hence they don’t want any land for mosque.

Meanwhile, a meeting of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) members is to be held on 17th November to decide the future course of action.

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