ASI report on Ayodhya one sided: Habib

Noted historian Irfan Habib has described the Archaeological Survey of India's report on Ayodhya as 'one sided'.

He also questioned the credibility of the report accusing the ASI of having 'deliberately altered' the names of historical periods in its finds.

"The ASI report has deliberately altered the names of historical period under political motivation," he said. "The report is a deliberate attempt to suppress the truth, it failed to conduct a tabulation of the animal bones found during the excavation of the disputed sites."

"These animal bones have been recovered from various levels of different periods and the ASI report should have tabulated the bones by periods, levels and trenches and should have also specified the species of animals," he added.

Habib claimed the ASI report 'offers not a single example of any medieval temple where pillars stood on the brick-basis which have been found on the site'.

He said the presence of Buddhist, Jain or Shivaite stones  and terracotta should also be taken into account because the so-called composite Buddhist, Jain and Shivaite temple of the type which the ASI is indirectly trying to suggest has 'till date never been found in India'.