Buddhist monks staged a
sit-in and fast in Ayodhya on Tuesday, claiming that the Ram Janmabhoomi
premises was a Buddhist site and demanded that the excavation of the place be
done by the UNESCO.
Buddhist monks staged a sit-in and fast in Ayodhya on Tuesday, claiming that the Ram Janmabhoomi premises was a Buddhist site and demanded that the excavation of the place be done by the UNESCO.
At the protest outside the
office of the Ayodhya
district magistrate, the Buddhist monks demanded that those items found during
the levelling of the land of the Ram Janmabhoomi site must be made public.
A shivalinga, seven black
touchstone pillars, six red sandstone pillars, a "flower pinnacle",
and four broken idols of gods and goddesses were found in May during the levelling
of the site for a Ram temple, the trust charged with its construction had said.
The Buddhist monks demanded
that the excavation of the site must be done by the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), claiming that the items
recovered belong to Buddhist culture.
They demanded that the
construction work of the Ram temple must be stopped immediately.
The followers of Buddhism
consider Ayodhya as the ancient city of Saket that was the centre of Buddhism
in ancient times.
"We have sent our
memorandums to the President, chief justice of India and also to other
government agencies through the Ayodhya administration," a Azad Baudh
Dharm Sena member said.
"If the construction
of the Ram temple is not stopped within a month and the premises not assigned
to the UNESCO for excavation, then we will again start our movement," he
said.
"We have received the
memorandum of Buddhist leaders and we will be sending it to the persons
addressed," Faizabad City Magistrate S P Singh said. "On our
assurances, the Buddhist community has called off its sit-in and fast.
