23 August, 2006

My dear Director General,

According to a news report, the ASI has decided not to undertake any fresh excavation until the reports of about 56 excavations carried out in the last 10-15 years have been completed.

We recall that the reports of excavations in Ayodhya and elsewhere in the 70’s as part of the project called ‘Archaeology of the Ramayana Sites’ are yet to be finalized and published though some preliminary progress reports were published in the Annual Indian Archeology in 1976 and 1977.

We would suggest that the ASI should review the progress of all the excavations undertaken since independence, declare some as ‘abandoned’, complete those in progress and publish final reports of the latter.

With best wishes,

Yours sincerely,

(SYED SHAHABUDDIN)

Shri C. Babu Rajeev ,

Director General,

Archaeological Survey of India

11, Janpath,

New Delhi – 110 001.