The Archaeological Survey Of India (ASI) today submitted in the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court, 15 sets of its 574-page report on the findings of the excavation at the disputed site in Ayodhya.The report was submitted to Court Commissioner N.N. Prasad by an ASI team led by senior archaeologists, B.R. Mani and Hari Majhi who supervised the excavations. The ASI has collected some 1,374 artifacts during the digging, which were sealed after being videographed. Hearing in the case is expected on August 25.The contents of the report which has been submitted in two volumes — one containing the text and other the pictures and plates — are not yet known. ‘‘The report has legal as well as political value because governments have been formed and toppled on the temple-mosque issue,’’ said Zafaryab Jilani, counsel for the Sunni Central Waqf Board (SCWB), a party to the title suit. He made it clear that the SCWB will get the report examined by its own archaeological and legal experts and the process could take a month’s time for us ‘‘to register our objections on the findings of the ASI’’.Even the counsels for the Hindu bodies have not expressed faith in the ASI report. ‘‘We are not happy with the excavations and the report prepared on its basis. The digging should be deeper to ascertain whether a temple or mosque existed at the site,’’ said R.P. Malhotra, counsel for the All India Hindu Mahasabha.Meanwhile, carrying forward the tone and tenor for a Ram temple in Ayodhya set by top BJP, RSS and other Sangh Parivar leaders at the funeral of Mahant Ramchandra Paramhans in Ayodhya, VHP chief Ashok Singhal is on a whirlwind tour of Ayodhya to distribute Ram raksha sutras among people. Singhal will later be joined by his deputy Pravin Togadia.‘‘Findings have left none in doubt that there was a temple at that place and it was demolished to pave way for Babri Mosque,’’ said UP BJP chief Vinay Katiyar.
