In a cold winter evening in 1976, I reached Ayodhya, along with ten others, from the school of Archaeology, to participate in the excavation under the legendary archaeologist, Prof BB Lal. Earlier, once I had seen him from a distance, in the Jana path office of the Archaeological Survey of India, when he came to attend a meeting from the Institute of Advanced Studies Centre, Shimla. Then, the school of archaeology was functioning from one of the rooms of ASI, Jana path. He was surrounded by a host of scholars and archaeologists.
I could not muster the courage to go and touch his feet as there was none to introduce me. When he was the DG, ASI, I was told, the whole organization was very vibrant with the coming and going of scholars from different parts of the country and animated discussions used to take in all the rooms of the scholars on various archaeological subjects. Young, medium and smart, he walked tall amidst a pantheon of veteran archaeologists. Although no more with the ASI in 1976, there was, an absent presence of the scholar extraordinary, still lingering in the precincts of the campus. We tried to imagine the golden past and our unworthiness to be part of it. But soon we got the glad tidings from Dr B Narasimhayya and A.K.Mishra that our excavation training would be at Ayodhya under prof Lal. I was overjoyed at the thought of being his student.
At Ayodhya, we were accommodated in an inn, immediately in front of the Janamsthan Babri Masjid. The next day Prof Lal came along with Smt Kusum Lal, to our campsite, for the initial meeting and briefing. When my turn came, I introduced myself as KK Muhammed. He asked me the full form of KK. Full form of KK in Malayalam would be the last thing I would like to divulge in front of a North Indian group. The strange-sounding Malayalam words would be used by my fellow North Indian members, to tease me. Even otherwise Shri Achuthanandan Jha and AK Pandey used to say that South Indian languages were produced from the drum of Lord Shiva. The only person sympathetic to me, in this case, was Ms Jayasree Ram Nathan, from Tamil Nadu, as her language, Tamil, is the mother of all the ‘drum family’. A toper and very promising archaeologist, Ms Jayashree, later on, married Mr Jaya Ram Ramesh, the former Cabinet Minister, in Congress Government. Sensing my reservation, Mrs Kusum Lal, in an attempt, to save me from the embarrassment, changed the subject, by enquiring my specialization in MA. I was relieved and thanked all the Gods.
Our excavation grounds, both Janamsthan Baburi Masjid and Hanuman Ghadi, temples were full pious pilgrims with Tilak. The Premises were always abuzz with Bhajan and Kirtans. The continuous ringing of the temple bells further added a spiritual aura to both the places. I was fascinated by the thronging multitude and their devotion. Many humble supplicants, poor and famished, came from the far off parts of India for a simple glimpse of Ram Lalla. I was drawn to them as I had developed a sympathetic chord in my heart for the devotees.
The next day I reached the excavation ground marking my forehead with a Tilak which caused a stir among my friends and labourers working at the site. Whether a Muslim would show courage to sport a Tilak like this? I found nothing unusual in it. Prof Lal saw my Tilak, exuded a mild smile but did not comment. But after 24years, when he came to Patna, where I was serving as Superintending Archaeologist, he recalled it appreciatively and shared with Prof. BP Sinha and few other scholars who had gathered.
After I got a job at Aligarh Muslim University, whenever he came to the University, I used to meet him to pay my respect. He also came to Fatehpur Sikri to see the excavation which was in progress and asked many questions. The excavation of Ibadat Khana and the Christian Church at Fatehpur Sikri, finally helped me to get the post of Dy Sup Archaeologist in Archaeological Survey of India. My first posting was in Madras.
In 1990, the Marxist historians unleashed a frontal attack on Ayodhya excavation in general and Prof Lal in particular. They also contended that no remains of the temple below the Babri Masjid has been exposed in the excavation. None of them had the domain competency to speak on archaeology, as they were historians who did not understand, the techniques and intricacies of archaeological excavations. Nor any of them had visited the site and seen the excavation. But still, they had the audacity to question reputed archaeologist, due to their connection with certain reporters of the English press.
Since archaeologists were generally introverts, averse to speaking to the press, they were always at the receiving end and never considered as public intellectuals. Moreover speaking to the press without prior permission is against conduct rules of a Central Government Officer. All these factors, generally desisted an archaeologist from speaking to the press and defend his turf.
But I took a calculated risk and spoke to the press, unmindful of the consequences.
The risk involved was double in my case, as I was yet to receive the ‘probation completion certificate’ from the ASI headquarter. During the probation period, anybody could be dismissed from the Government service without even serving a show-cause notice. I could not have expected any help from the Central Government as it was not BJP, then ruling the country. Chandra Shekharji, the then Prime Minister made concerted efforts to solve the problem but the deliberate attempt of the Marxists historians made it an ever festering wound.
In my letter to Indian Express, dated, 15.12.1990, I said that the remains of a temple below the mosque has been exposed and recorded during the excavation and similarly temple pillars were also reused for the construction of the controversial mosque. I further argued that Ayodhya is as holy for Hindus as Mecca and Madeena are for Muslims and Muslims should set an example by voluntarily handing over the structure to Hindus. In order to give no room for doubts, I had made it clear that I was the only Muslim who had participated in the excavation. Soon all the hell broke loose. While the revelation from an archaeologist, who was a part of it, and that too a Muslim, was music to the ears of one group, the other faction, headed by Aligarh Marxists, baying for my blood, was pressing for action against me.
In the year 1999, Prof Lal came to Patna, where I was serving as Superintending Archaeologist. He was living with Prof BP Sinha. I wanted Prof Lal along with Smt Kusum Lal to spend a day with me, at the ASI, guest house. Where ever I am posted, I took a special interest in setting up air-conditioned well-furnished guest houses and earned the sobriquet ‘Guesthouse Man’. After full day fieldwork in the scorching heat, these guest houses were like an oasis in the deserts. Prof Lal readily obliged. The next day Madam Kusum Lal told me, the stay at the Patna ASI guest house known as Grams House was an experience and a walk down the memory lane, as Madam had spent few years, as a child, in the very building, along with parents.
Prof Lal appreciated the work of the excavation of Rajgir stupa and wondered that how could I identify this stupa site, which was located on the Rajgir Bodh Gaya Road and unnoticed by early explorers! I explained that what necessitated a meticulous exploration of the area was a proposal by the Rail Way Minister Shri Nitish Kumar, to lay down rail tracks, connecting Nalanda, Rajgir and Bodh Gaya. It was this urgency and submission of a field study report which necessitated a careful exploration. Later on, realizing the importance of the stupa, the Ministry of Rail Ways shifted the railway track and alignment
In 2009, when I was posted in Delhi, I approached Prof Lal to know his reaction about re excavating Purana Qila, the ancient Indra Prastha, which he had excavated in 1954-55, and again in 1969-1973. Here, my proposal was to re excavate the site, firm up the section of the excavated trenches, fix the replicas of the antiquities recovered from the site in to the firmed up section, cover up the entire area under an air-conditioned, transparent roof. Here a scholar guide would take the tourists, for a journey, through various layers of the excavation, such as PGW, Maurya, Sunga, Kushan, Rajput, Sultanate and Mughal.
The journey would be enjoyable and exciting, as it would give the tourist an experiential experience of an excavated site. Something like a ‘History Oceanarium’ which he has never been able to experience. Such a walk through historical layers of a dim and distant past will change tourist’s perceptions about archaeology and ancient civilization, as it is a life-enriching journey through the corridors of history. With the help of modern technology, digital cultural heritage (DCH), 3 d graphic technology, augmented Reality systems (ARS) and computer simulations, it would take them back to a time when the time was lived on a grand and glittering scale. Since the tour leader is a scholar, he would be able to take the tourist to the lanes and by-lanes of an enchanted historical journey to make it an intellectually stimulating experience.
Apart from this, another idea was to have an ‘Interpretation Center’ where a museum of ‘Eureka Moments of Indian History’ to be showcased. It included the details and location of sites that finally culminated in the discovery of Indus valley and how Sir John Marshal might have felt when he declared to the world that the antiquity of Indus valley sites goes back to 2500 CEC, competing with Mesopotamian sites Ur and Lagash. How thrilled Christian Lassen and James Princep might have been when they could decipher Brahmi, the forgotten language of Emperor Asoka. Could Alexander Cunningham sleep when he located Sankisa, the Buddhist site on the basis of the travelogue written by Fahien? How ebullient Prof Lal might have felt when he could correlate the flood scars of Hastinapura with the flood of Mahabharata mentioned in Vayu Purana?
These and similar other Eureka moments of Indian archaeology needs to be showcased and properly presented to the public. Such an Interpretation Center is capable of awakening the dormant kundalini of the country. Prof Lal appreciated and welcomed it. Many in the ASI, like Dr Poonacha and Dr Janwich Sharma, termed it as a brilliant idea. The Director-General, Mr KN Srivastav, IAS, who was always in search of creative and out of the box ideas, fully supported it. But, Dr Shireen Moosavi, from AMU, unfortunately, a Member of the Central Advisory Board, opposed it tooth and nail, as she saw my name as the director of the excavation. Anything associated with me was like a red rag for them. The Marxist group especially, Aligarh Marxists were always against Archaeology. Archaeology has the potentiality to spring many surprises and can come out with something original and outstanding. Hence The Communist historians of Aligarh shudder at the prospect of giving a free hand to ASI. If the project had moved ahead, the ancient Indraprastha would have been one of the most original vibrant cultural centres of Delhi.
From 2004-2008, I had conserved a number of temples at Chambal valley, with the cooperation of Chambal dacoits. When the dacoits were shot dead, the mining mafia moved in with alacrity and started rampant mining, causing severe damage to the conserved temples. As my attempt to get mining stopped fell on deaf ears, I had to resort to an extraordinary measure of writing a letter to Late KS Sudarshan ji, who was the then RSS chief. Of course, this letter was also against the conduct Rules of a Government servant. But there was no other way to get the mining stopped, as politicians of all hues and colours were involved in it. The letter yielded the desired results and mining was stopped, after a fierce exchange of gunshots between police and mining mafia. Mrs Ambika Soni, the Central Minister for Tourism and Culture wrote to Shri Shiva Raj Singh, the MP Chief Minister, to provide help and support to ASI from the mining mafia. The Chief Minister in his reply to Mrs Ambika Soni, while assuring all the help to ASI, obliquely suggested taking action against me for my letter to RSS Chief.
My daughter Ms Shaheen Muhammed, made a documentary about it and posted it in youtube which got rave reviews. I made a personal request to Prof Lal to watch it, as I had started my beginning in Archaeology at his feet. He was kind enough to watch it and visibly impressed. One day I received a phone call from him and said he liked the conservation work at Bateshwar very much. Then he added that he has already written a letter to the Union Minister of Tourism and Culture, recommending my name for a suitable award. He further elaborated that he does not know how the Ministry would react to it, but I would send you a copy of it. I profusely thanked him and said that irrespective of the fact whether the Government acts on it or not, for me, your recommendation is the biggest certificate. When the award of Padmashri was announced in 2019, I profusely thanked him for his blessings and shaping my future.
While the day to day hearing of Ayodhya was in progress in the Supreme Court, in 2019, I knew that the Aligarh group headed by Prof Irfan Habib would come out with some press statements in English newspapers, with ulterior motives. Having lived and fought with this group throughout my carrier at Aligarh, I knew their modus operandi. But before they could do anything, I could get published in Times of India some unknown facets of the excavation, initially carried out by Prof Lal and then extensively by Dr BR Mani. Dr Mani and fellow excavators were under instructions from the Courts, not to divulge any details. The Marxists tried to paint the report submitted to the court, through the communal angle, by high lighting the name of Dr Buddha Rashmi Mani. But my argument that four expert archaeologists who were the co-authors of the said report were Muslims, took the wind out of the sail of Marxists. The names and designations of these Muslim archaeologists, as given in the newspaper, was not simply a punch but a knockout blow for the Aligarh Marxists.
The article created a flutter among a wide spectrum of intellectuals and Muslim liberals. Sensing that the old communal cards are not serving their nefarious ends as they used to do once, they resorted to a new tactic, to prove that I was not part of the excavation under Prof Lal. Unbelievable as it may sound, that this version was first published in a Malayalam newspaper Madhya am, associated with Jamat I Islami and later by Times of India. Journalistic ethics demanded that Times of India should have sought my reaction before publishing such an allegation as it affected my integrity. But this deep-seated conspiracy proved to be an ill-advised misadventure for them. I immediately I contacted Prof Lal who was in America, requesting him, to set the record right by sending an email to Shakthi Shekhar who had initially filed my case in Times of India. After hearing from Prof Lal that I was very much in the Ayodhya excavation in his team, Mr Shekhar contacted few more scholars who had participated in the Ayodhya excavation, like Rajnath Kauw, Mr Ashok Kumar Pandey and Dr Rama Kant Chathur Vedi etc who further confirmed my presence in the team. Although Mr Shekhar contacted Mr Jayaram Ramesh, the former Cabinet Minister in the Congress government to get the comment from Mrs Jayashree Jaya Ram, a member of our team, he was informed that Smt Jayashri passed away a few months back.
Times of India published this well-reserched rebuttal also exposing the Marxist historians of Aligarh. In Madhyamam paper Dr Irfan Habib went to the extent of saying that I had no association with Ayodhya at all, what to talk of the excavation. But no other newspaper in Malayalam, including Communist party paper, carried this fake news, as they knew it as a tissue of white lies. Thus the timely intervention of Prof Lal saved me from a lifetime embarrassment which raised many questions about my integrity.
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