Passed away in Mumbai at age 82 on 25 May 2026: archaeologist and historian Shereen Ratnagar (1944-2026) 

The wikipedia page devoted to her (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shereen_Ratnagar) gives a list of major publications by her and has a paragraph on her involvement in the Ayodhya dispute. 

Among important but lesser known book parts / articles she published I mention: 

“Does Archaeology Hold the Answers?” In: J. Bronkhorst and M.M. Deshpande (eds.), Aryan and Non-Aryan in South Asia. Cambridge: Harvard Oriental Series, 1999, pp. 207-238.

“Agro-pastoralism and the Migrations of the Indo-Iranians.” In: India: Historical Beginnings and the Concept of the Aryan: Essays by Romila Thapar, Jonathan Mark Kenoyer, Madhav M. Deshpande, Shereen Ratnagar. New Delhi: National Book Trust, 2006, pp. 157-193.

"Pastoral nomadism, tribalism, and language shift." In: J. Houben and J. Rotaru (eds.), Veda-Vedāṅga and Avesta between Orality and Writing. Bucarest, Bibliothèque de Bucarest: 2011, pp. 425-453.