'Proposed Ram Temple Land Has Muslims' Graveyard', Claim Ayodhya Residents, DM Dismisses Plea

Nine Muslim residents from Ayodhya in a letter to the newly appointed Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra, have appealed not to construct the new Ram temple on the graveyard of Muslims, in the surrounding area of the site where Babri Masjid stood.

The resident had asked the 10 trustees, "with best knowledge and experience in the field of Hindu/Sanatan religion and practice" to consider whether "the temple of Lord Ram can have a foundation on the grave of Muslims". The residents claim that the75 Muslims killed in the riots of 1855 were buried "in an existing graveyard around the Mosque".

"The graves may not be visible today because the entire area has been differently treated with since 1949, when forcibly an idol of Lord Ram was placed inside the Mosque and when in 1992 the Mosque was demolished."

The district administration of Ayodhya, however, claimed that there was no graveyard within the 67 acres of land where the Ram temple is supposed to be built.

"At present, there is no graveyard within the 67-acre campus of the Ram Janambhoomi areas," said District Magistrate, Ayodhya, Anuj Jha.

"The Supreme Court was apprised of all the facts during the hearing of the case (Ayodhya title dispute), including contents of the letter (written by lawyer M.R. Shamshad). This issue also came up during the hearing of the case. In the Supreme Court's judgment on November 9, 2019, all these facts were also clearly mentioned," he further said.

According to the four-page letter, the residents have said that using the 67-acres of land that the government acquired is a "complete ouster" of the Muslims' claim and is also contradictory to what the law claims. The letter states that the "4-5 acres around the demolished mosque" is being claimed as having arbitrarily been handed over, "as expected" by the Centre.

"In 1994, the Supreme Court had upheld the acquisition of larger land admeasuring 67 acres which included the graveyard land, and thus the entire land became vested with the Central Government. The object of the Acquisition Act of 1993 was to maintain public order and promote communal harmony," The Indian Express quoted the letter as saying.

The letter also asserts that the "5 acres" that was allotted (as the Supreme Court had said in its November 2019 order) to Muslims, is far away from the Babri Masjid had stood once.

It further claimed that the acquisition was "not to exclude Muslims from the said land"; instead, the Act also sought to construct a mosque. The letter says that the use of all the land as contrary to the "discretionary power conferred to them by the Supreme Court of India" and "uncalled for."

The letter talks about the stand of Shri Ramlalla Virajman in the original suit number 5. It also cites "recorded facts" that say that

The letter further cites the Allahabad High Court judgment where Justice D V Sharma had said that the "disputed structure was surrounded by a graveyard on three sides".

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