'Muslims should give up Gyanvapi, Mathura': Ex-ASI regional director says Hindus shouldn't make more demands

KK Muhammed, the former regional director of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), has said that Muslims should willingly hand over Mathura and Gyanvapi to Hindus as the Ram Janmabhoomi matter is done and dusted. He also urged Hindus to avoid making more demands as this would only create more problems. 

In an interview with India Today, he said that Mathura and Gyanvapi are two other places apart from Ram Janmabhoomi that are "as important for the Hindu community as Mecca and Medina are for Muslims."

"So, Muslims should willingly hand over these three places," he added.

When asked about petitions concerning religious sites other than Gyanvapi and Mathura, he told India Today: "The only solution for unity should be that all these three places should be handed to the Hindu community, and Hindus should stop coming with a long list of places. That won't solve the problem."

The former ASI top official further said that there is no one to "control them" with respect to the problem within the Hindu community. 

Recounting the Ram Janmabhoomi matter, he said that the controversy grew because of a communist historian's influence. The historian, as per Muhammed, persuaded the Muslim community to reject the evidence of a temple beneath the mosque.

He mentioned that most Muslims were initially inclined to resolve the matter by allowing the construction of a temple at the disputed site. Muhammed added that the historian was not an archaeologist and did not visit the site at any stage of the excavation that took place in 1976 under Professor BB Lal's leadership. 

"They had never visited the site, even before the excavation, nor during the excavation, nor after the excavation. So, without knowing the subject, they were propagating this kinds of false stories. So, somebody had to give an answer for that one. So, for the first time, Professor BB Lal, who had led the team, gave a befitting reply," he said.

Furthermore, he dismissed allegations by some Hindu groups regarding the origins of the Taj Mahal, saying these were "totally false". He said that the site was originally Raja Mann Singh's palace, which was later transferred to Sawai Jai Singh and then to Shah Jahan, with supporting documents preserved in Bikaner and Jaipur museums. 

Decrying these claims, he called them "another attempt by fanatical Hindu groups to claim that everything belongs to them."