He suggested that Muslims should willingly hand over these sites, while also urging Hindus to make further demands, stressing that expanding claims would only create more problems. Mohammed’s comments come as several petitions related to the temple-mosque row are pending in courts across the country.
Speaking to India Today, Muhammed pointed out that besides Ram Janmabhoomi, Mathura and Gyavapi are two other places that are “as important to the Hindu community as Mecca and Medina are to Muslims.”
AYODHYA ROW WAS CREATED OUT OF LEFT-WING PROPAGANDA: KK MUHAMMED
Reflecting on the Ayodhya dispute, Mohammed talked about his involvement in the excavation of the Babri Masjid in 1976, led by BB Lal. He said the controversy grew under the influence of a communist historian. According to him, they convinced the Muslim community to reject the evidence of a temple under the mosque.
According to Mohammed, most Muslims were initially inclined to resolve the issue by allowing the construction of a temple on the disputed site.
Muhammed claimed that the historian was not an archaeologist and had not visited the site at any stage of the excavation. He denounced the spread of what he described as false stories and pointed out the lack of direct knowledge among those influencing public opinion at the time.
“At that very important time, it was a communist historian who got involved in all these matters and then convinced the Muslim community that Professor Lal had excavated the site, and he got nothing that furthered the previous existence of a temple. So this was their creation. So Muslims had no other way out,” he told India Today.
“They had never visited the site even before the excavation, neither during the excavation nor after the excavation. So without knowing the subject, they propagated these kinds of false stories. So someone had to give an answer to that. So for the first time, Professor BB Lal, who had led the team, gave a befitting answer,” he said.
On the broader issue of the mandir-mosque debates, Mohammed advised caution, saying: “We have to be very careful.” He identified Mathura and Gyanvapi, in addition to Ram Janmabhoomi, as places of special importance to the Hindu community, describing their significance as similar to Mecca and Medina for Muslims.
“So Muslims should hand over these three places willingly,” he added.
Replying to questions about other petitions on religious sites, Mohammed said, “Except these three, there should be no demand from the Hindu community.” He warned that pursuing additional claims would not solve the problem and risk further conflict.
“The only solution for unity should be that all these three places are handed over to the Hindu community and Hindus should stop presenting a long list of places. That will not solve the problem,” he told India Today, stressing the need for restraint and compromise from both communities.
Mohammed also commented on the lack of internal control regarding such demands, saying, “There is no one to control them” regarding the problem within the Hindu community.
He categorically rejected the allegations made by some Hindu groups about the origin of the Taj Mahal, terming them ‘completely untrue’. Muhammed described the historical transfer of the site in detail, noting that it was originally the palace of Raja Mann Singh, which was later transferred to Jai Singh and then to Shah Jahan, with supporting documents preserved in the museums of Bikaner and Jaipur.
He described such claims as “another attempt by fanatical Hindu groups to claim that everything belongs to them.”
‘BJP’S 11 YEARS A DARK AGE FOR ASI’
Regarding the preservation of cultural heritage, Mohammed stated that the expectations placed on the government, especially regarding the protection of sites, “did not materialize.” He called the current period the ‘dark age of the Archaeological Survey of India’ and criticized the lack of substantial progress.
He further noted that his own restoration work on the Bateshwar temple complex in Chambal had slowed considerably in recent years, with only ten temples having been reconstructed in the last eleven years, despite significant efforts.
– Ends
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