Former ASI regional director KK Muhammed has said that the Ayodhya dispute was fuelled by Left-leaning propaganda, and not by facts. Speaking to India Today, he recalled taking part in the 1976 excavation of the Babri Masjid site under archaeologist BB Lal and claimed that the controversy escalated only because of the influence of a communist historian.
Muhammed explained that, according to him, most Muslims were initially willing to settle the issue by allowing the construction of a temple, but the historian convinced them to reject the archaeological findings that suggested a temple once stood beneath the mosque.
He stressed that the historian was not an archaeologist and had never visited the excavation site, yet his opinions shaped public perception. Muhammed criticised what he called misinformation at the time, saying it came from people who had no direct knowledge of the excavation.
“At that very important time, it was a communist historian who interfered in all these things and then persuaded the Muslim community that Professor Lal had excavated the site, and he did not get anything which favoured the previous existence of a temple. So this was their creation. So, Muslims had no other way,” he told India Today.
“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 added.
Addressing the larger temple–mosque debate, Muhammed asked both communities to show restraint. He said that Ram Janmabhoomi, Mathura and Gyanvapi are the only three sites that should be discussed, comparing their importance for Hindus to Mecca and Medina for Muslims.
“So, Muslims should willingly hand over these three places”, he added talking to India Today.
When asked about other petitions on religious sites, he responded that Hindus should not push for additional claims, warning that more demands would only increase tensions. “Other than these three, there should be no demand that should be coming from the Hindu community,” he said, stressing that endless demands would not solve the problem.
Muhammed also said there is no effective leadership within the Hindu community to regulate such demands, commenting: “There is no one to control them.”
He firmly rejected claims made by some Hindu groups about the origin of the Taj Mahal, calling them baseless. He clarified that the land originally belonged to Raja Man Singh, was later transferred to Jai Singh, and then handed over to Shah Jahan, with documentation available in museums in Bikaner and Jaipur. He said “another attempt by fanatical Hindu groups to claim that everything belongs to them.”
Muhammed Calls BJP Era a ‘Dark Age’ for ASI; ASI Chief Responds
Former ASI regional director KK Muhammed criticised the government for failing to protect India’s cultural heritage, calling the last 11 years the “dark age of the Archaeological Survey of India.” Speaking to India Today, he said that despite high expectations from the BJP government, the promised focus on heritage conservation “did not materialise.” He added that even his restoration work at the Bateshwar temple complex in Chambal had slowed, with only 10 temples rebuilt in the past 11 years.
Responding to the criticism, ASI Director General Yadubir Singh Rawat disagreed, saying the organisation has been working actively.
“ASI is doing a lot of work; we have a big budget but also have thousands of monuments to manage,” he said.
Rawat also questioned the timing of the criticism and said “Some people have said things years after retirement. Why didn’t they raise it when they were in ASI?”
He stressed that the ASI does not take political sides and that its responsibility is to document
history, leaving historians to interpret the findings.
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