Two days before the Allahabad High Court deadline for completion of excavations at the disputed site in Ayodhya, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, raising questions about the ‘‘fairness’’ of the dig, has demanded that its senior office-bearers be allowed access to the site.Kalbe Sadiq, Board vice-president who has quit its Babri panel in favour of talks aimed at resolving the tangle, told The Indian Express: ‘‘We’ve been sent word of some artefacts being deliberately hidden at the excavation site. We want to verify it, we demand that senior office-bearers of the Board be allowed access to the site to ascertain the truth.’’There are indications that the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), which began excavating the disputed site on March 12, may again approach the High Court to extend the June 15 deadline for completion of the job.Of late, Board members have begun questioning the ‘‘fairness’’ of the ASI though Zafaryab Jilani, one of its members and counsel of the Sunni Central Wakf Board, has the permission of the court to be present at the site.‘‘We received information from our sources which suggest that not everything’s fair at the site. This is why we want our senior office-bearers to be physically present there ,’’ Kalbe Sadiq said, adding he was going to discuss the matter with Board president Maulana Rabe Hasan Nadwi.The demand for physical presence at the site is also being linked in Muslim circles to growing differences among members of the Board, a fact which even Kalbe Sadiq concedes.‘‘Why can’t there be differences? When two persons meet, they have different opinions. Aren’t there differences within the BJP, Congress or, for that matter, any political outfit?’’ he countered.Kalbe Sadiq stepped down as president of the Board’s Babri panel four days after Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati visited Lucknow’s Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama with a ‘‘proposal’’ on a way out of the Ayodhya mess.The Shankaracharya’s trip has led to serious differences within the Board on whether they should agree to negotiate the future of the site. But Kalbe Sadiq, who’s in favour of a negotiated settlement, said he was not going to withdraw his resignation.He maintained he wanted a solution to the Ayodhya issue in a civilised manner, be it through the courts, dialogue or historical findings. ‘‘I welcome any move aimed at finding a solution to the issue which has given our country a bad name. The Shankaracharya’s move is a welcome step because I believe religious leaders like him do what they say, unlike political leaders who commit one thing and do just the opposite.’’On the Shankaracharya ‘‘proposal’’ that Muslims withdraw the court case on the issue for a speedy solution, he said it was difficult at this stage to withdraw the case because such a move would block one of the channels for a solution.Meanwhile, Union Minister Swami Chinmayanand has suggested that an all-party meeting be called to find a mutually agreeable solution to the issue. ‘‘The Kanchi Shankaracharya has taken a fresh initiative to find a solution acceptable to all. Efforts should be made at both levels, political and religious,’’ he said.
