HARVEST OF UNTRUTHS

Dr. M. G. S. NARAYANAN
(Former Member Secretary & Chairman, ICHR)

I took charge of the Member Secretary of Indian History Council (meaning

ICHR-author) in 1990. Though I was member of various committees from
1973, the year of inception of the Council, I became its permanent member
only in 1988. I took up the post of Member Secretary under the persistence
of the Chairman, Dr. Irfan Habib. Those were the days of high turbulence
due to the Ram Janambhumi-Babri Mazjid dispute. Politicians made forceful
attempts to reap undue benefits from the issue. Being Member Secretary, I
was privy to all documents including the secret ones about this vexatious
problem. Also, I had the opportunity to examine them.

In an article sent to the ‘Mathrubhumi’ weekly, three weeks ahead of the

demolition, I wrote that all political parties have played their role in
worsening the RJ-BM issue. Probably, because the article was published
after demolition, the Communists propagated that my writing was meant to
justify the violence of Sangh Parivar. Their allegation became sharp and
credible all the more, when I was appointed as Chairman of ICHR by the
BJP regime. But they cleverly buried the fact I became Member Secretary of
ICHR under the Congress regime and at the insistence of the Communist
historian, Irfan Habib. They even forgot that me and Irfan Habib became
friends during my fight against the design of RSS to saffronize ICHR, which
was free from any sort of politics till then. I had not had any special hatred
towards RSS; but my position was that nobody should clandestinely increase
the number of members and capture ICHR. I feel that not only Babri Mazjid,
but no religious structure shall be demolished. I owe this explanation
because my narrations of the circumstances which led to the demolition were
thoroughly misinterpreted.

Babur, who was in India for just five years, fought three great wars including
that of Panipat, and led his army to Oudh (Ayodhya) in the fourth year. It
was not possible to construct such a big mosque within one year in those
days. Few pages pertaining to Babur’s expedition to Oudh and return to
Delhi has been destroyed by somebody from his autobiography. This
beautiful autobiography earned him the name ‘Prince of Autobiographers’.
Dr. B. B. Lal, encouraged by the then HRD minister Prof. Nurul Hasan, had

1
already conducted excavations at Ayodhya. He found two rows of pillar-
bases extending up to the foundation of the mosque. The dimensions of
these were same as that of the pillars (resembling temple pillars) of the
mosque. It is also to be noted that during the period of Aurangzeb, the
temples at Kashi and Mathura were seriously demolished and mosques were
constructed in an overbearing manner. This is a historical fact.

I do not agree with Bajrang Dal, Shiv Sena or a few hardliners in RSS, who
want to repeat such conquests and destruction. But equally, I disagree with
Congressis and Communists who complicated the problem by suppressing
historical facts and playing nasty political games. Chandrasekhar, when he
was the Prime Minister, put forth a good idea for an amicable solution. Let
RJB committee and BM committee exchange their records through their
favorite historians and finally the PM, after examining all details will work
out a formula – this was his suggestion. The idea failed because the
Communist historians including Irfan Habib decided to side with BM
committee.

I proposed two solutions in my articles written in Indian Express and

Deshabhimani (CPM’s Malayalam Daily). Whatever be the dispute, the
demolition was a criminal act. And those responsible shall compensate for it.
The compensation shall not eventually destroy the Hindu-Muslim
brotherhood. I mean construction of a grand mosque. I am not insisting that
it should be at the same spot, because Muslims do not have any compulsion
of place or time in constructing mosques while Hindus do have such faiths.
There is no doubt that the mosque shall be somewhere in that area. Though
there is no evidence to show that, it is this spot where Ram was born, there
are enough historical evidences which prove that a man by name Ram lived
in Ayodhya and ruled that Rajya. In today’s parlance Ramayan may be an
epic. But Ayodhya is a historical fact. Ample evidence is available on 6th
century BC and the existence of places like Magadh and Ayodhya. Since the
faith in Ram was an established fact from the Gupta period, and in the light
of evidence confirming a temple beneath, only a temple shall be constructed
at the disputed area.

The problem became acute because the rulers did not tell the truth to the
common man. The ruling dispensation failed to bring political, social and
cultural leaders on a single platform to find out a solution. In short, the issue
took an ugly turn thanks to the absence of statesmanship. The demolition
brought drastic changes in the Indian mind. We must understand that the

2
retaliatory violence by Muslims and the anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat - all
were the results of this change of minds. Those who forgot the wounds of
partition made a come back. This ultimately is the disastrous result of the
demolition.

Muslim League was a party which stood up for partition. But, after
independence they became a political party to take care of the welfare of
their community. League succeeded in blunting the communal thrust among
Muslims. And RSS is not so much a strong force in Kerala. Therefore Kerala
did not, generally witness any communal divide or violence.

But then, we see the influence of Muslim League weakening with the ascent
of the radical religious fervor imported from the Gulf Countries. This danger
looms large whether from Madani or from a disguised SIMI. They get lots of
money. They are even running a parallel economy. Though the entire
Muslim society is not involved in this, a section definitely is responsible.
Educated people forcing purdah on women is a very recent phenomenon.
Earlier I had visited a number of mosques like muchunthi, miscaal, jamaat,
etc., for my historical studies. I do not think it will be possible today. At
least a few of the mosques are under the control of militants. While
chopping the hands in the name of blasphemy, they do not understand that
they are doing a more condemnable act.

I think there should not be Mutts or Madrasas which teach only one religion.
If it is there, it has to teach all religions. The friends of our childhood will
always be our friends. If I study and mingle with only Hindu children, it will
be difficult for me, when I am grown up, to accept Muslims. The decline of
all-religion schools and the increase of one-religion schools is a dangerous
trend. There shall not be a situation in which Hindus do not know what
Islam is and Muslims do not know what Hindu is.

I was born and brought up in Muslim majority areas of Ponnani and

Parappanangadi. I had several Muslim friends. And those friendships
continue till today. But at least a few of them have become cold post 6th Dec.
’92. They were carried away by the propaganda of the Communists that I am
a BJP man. There are Muslim friends who became all the more close to me
precisely for this reason. They were determined not to fall into the
Communist trap. Muslims can easily be misinformed and provoked while
Hindus will not be offended if someone talks whatever he wants about Rama
or Krishna. But Muslims are not so. The ‘Malabar Riots’ broke out with a

3
news that the British army demolished the mosque of Thirurangadi, while no
such incident did happen. This might have been due to the fact that majority
of Muslims were poor and illiterate at that time. Will we believe? - In the
19th century, the Muslim clerics issued a fatwa preventing learning of
Malayalam and English! Muslims, at least now, must understand that their
backwardness was exploited.

Several remnants of a temple-structure and idols were obtained from the

debris of the demolished mosque as well as through excavations. Not only
that, a very important stone carving which was sandwiched between two
walls of the demolished building was also found. Epigraphy experts Dr. K.
V. Ramesh, Dr. I. K. Sharma, et al were prevented by the then Government
from deciphering and publishing the contents of this plaque. The
Communists slandered the RSS for fabricating this carving. In fact, the
inscription showed that a Maha Vishnu temple was constructed at Saket
(Ayodhya), by Govind Chandra of the Garhwal dynasty, which ruled Kanouj
(old Kanyakubja) during the 12th century. More than 180 inscriptions
belonging to this dynasty have already been found in several places in India
including Thanjavur (in Tamil Nadu). Leave alone RSS, even Communists
or anyone else could not have fabricated these inscriptions which are in
Sanskrit of that period with a distinct Garhwali style. Anyone who has a
preliminary knowledge of archeology will find that the mosque was
constructed in the name of Babur in 16th century, either after demolition or
on the ruins of that grand temple. It was a big fault, not unintentional, of the
various Governments to suppress this fact from the public. These are the
grievous mistakes which aid and abet communal divide and violence in our
country.

(Prepared by Abdul Haqeem by interviewing the author)

Free translation from the Mathrubhumi weekly, Vol.88, issue 31, dtd 10th
October, 2010, by T. G. Mohandas