Ayodhya, the Finale - Science versus Secularism the Excavations Debate is a book by self-described 'Hindu revivalist' Koenraad Elst published in 2003 by Voice of India.
This book is Elst's latest book on the Ayodhya debate, and is an intervention in favour of the controversial report by the Archaeological Survey of India on the history of Ram Janmabhoomi. He writes that he is surprised that there is a controversy at all, when the matter "could be decided by Scientists". The book compares the Ayodhya debate to Galileo, whose scientific findings were also opposed by many people. He writes that "when dogmatic ideologues are giving scientists the kind of treatment which the experts of the Archaeological Survey of Indian have been receiving from the “eminent historians”, and assorted Babri Masjid lobbyists, it is time to stand up and be counted. I for one want to be counted among those who defend the freedom of research and the scientific method..."
Other books about the debate by Elst include Ayodhya and After: Issues Before Hindu Society and Ayodhya: The Case Against the Temple.
|