Hyderabad, May 8
Ayodhya, the birthplace of Hindu warrior-god Ram, is in Pakistan, claims a book by a top Muslim leader.
Ayodhya
in Faizabad district of Uttar Pradesh is not the original city by the
same name as it was inhabited by human beings only in 7th century BC
while Rama is believed to have been born 18 million years ago, says
"Facts of Ayodhya Episode" authored by Abdul Rahim Quraishi, assistant
general secretary of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB).
Quoting
research papers of Jassu Ram and other archaeologists of the
Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), the book reveals that there were
two Ayodhyas - one which was built by King Raghu, great grandfather of
Ram, and the second built by Ram himself.
"Jassu Ram in 'Ancient
Geography of the Ramayana' says that both Ayodhyas are in Dera Ismail
Khan district of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (now Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa)," says Quraishi, also president of Majlis Tameer-e-Millat,
a socio-religious organization.
Quraishi, a key figure in the
committee constituted by the AIMPLB to fight the Babri Masjid case, said
Ayodhya in Faizabad district was known as Saket in 7th century BC.
In
all probability, Hindus in 11th century CE gave the name of Ayodhya to
the town. They also gave names connected with Ram Katha to various areas
of the town.
The writer says that if the present Ayodhya was the
birthplace of Ram, it would have been mentioned in Ramayana of
Tulsidas, who penned the epic in 1574 CE in Ayodhya. Tulsidas wrote
Ramayana during the time of Mughal emperor Akbar, the grandson of Babar.
"If Babri Masjid was constructed by demolishing a temple, he would have mentioned this," Quraishi told IANS.
He
believes all these evidences may be produced during the hearing of the
case in the Supreme Court, where the AIMPLB has challenged the 2010
verdict of the Allahbad High Court on the Babri Masjid title suit.
The Urdu version of the 82-year-old leader's book has hit the stands. The English translation is expected to be published soon.
Quraishi
pointed out that the excavations undertaken by Banaras Hindu University
and ASI and those on the orders of Allahbad High Court found nothing to
prove that a temple existed there. There was no objection by Hindus
when Babri Masjid was constructed in 1528.
He referred to a 1855
incident in which 'bairagies' (Hindu ascetics) returned Babri Masjid to
Muslims after occupying it for some days.
It was in 1885 that a
Mahant filed a suit for permission to construct a temple on chabutra or
platform in the outer courtyard of the Babri Masjid claiming it to be
the birthplace of Ram.
The sub-judge of Faizabad, Pandit Hari
Kishan, on Dec 24, 1885, refused to give permission. Neither Mahant
Dharam Das in his plaint stated nor sub-judge, a Hindu Pandit, remarked
that Babar built the mosque at a scared place of Hindus.
The
author said the Allahbad High Court decided the Babri Masjid title suit
on the basis of belief. "The findings of the three-judge bench are
patently wrong. In 1855, the Hindus of Ayodhya did not believe that the
Babri Masjid stood on Ram Janmasthan."
The book has dealt in
detail with developments leading to the night of December 22, 1949, when
idols of Ram and other gods were planted in Babri Masjid.
Quoting
extensively from the orders of various courts, reports of commissions
and books, Quraishi has written in detail how the conspiracy was hatched
by the Hindu Mahasbha and implemented by K.K.K. Nayar, the then deputy
commissioner-cum-district magistrate.
The Babri Masjid was
demolished by a mob of Hindu zealots on December 6, 1992, and and a
makeshift shrine was constructed on its debris.
(Mohammed Shafeeq can be contacted at [email protected])
