On a recent episode of comedian Kunal Kamra’s talk show—a platform increasingly serving as an echo chamber for left-liberal propaganda—self-styled historian Ram Puniyani made a jaw-dropping assertion: Aurangzeb did not demolish the temple in Varanasi (Kashi Vishwanath) out of religious fanaticism, but supposedly to stop “immoral activities” being conducted in the temple premises.
To the casual viewer, this might have sounded like a revelation backed by rigorous historical study. After all, Ram Puniyani—frequently paraded as a rationalist and academic—is known in liberal circles for his aggressive secular posturing. But what he presented as fact turns out to be little more than historical gossip, based on a deeply questionable, hearsay-laden source.
Someone should call out Ram Puniyani for spreading dangerous rumors on Kunal Kamra's show
Puniyani says Aurangzeb broke the temple in Varanasi to stop immoral activities happening there
Nonsense!
Puniyani's refers this story from Dr. Pattabhi Sitaramayya's book "Feathers and… pic.twitter.com/64hjAfMNah
— Abhishek (@AbhishBanerj) June 9, 2025
This isn’t just academic laziness. This is deliberate historical misinformation—a dangerous rumor being passed off as truth on a highly sensitive subject that has cost lives, stirred movements, and shaped the civilisational consciousness of India.
The Source: ‘Feathers and Stones’ A book of Folklore, not facts
Puniyani’s entire claim hinges on a reference in a relatively obscure 1940s-era book titled Feathers and Stones, written by Congress stalwart Dr B Pattabhi Sitaramayya. This book is not a history book. It’s not even an attempt at documenting events based on fact. It is a compilation of random anecdotes and secondhand stories Sitaramayya heard while imprisoned in Ahmednagar Fort with other Congress leaders during the freedom struggle.
Let’s look at what the author himself says in the preface:
“This is a book which the author (amongst whose infirmities modesty is not one) may claim to be a book of humour, wit and wisdom. None of these is the original product of the author’s ‘genius’, for it only embodies what has been heard or read by him.”
He adds, very clearly:
“Let no reader give a good name to the author and hang him for not living (or writing) up to the reader’s expectation. Nor may he legitimately expect in these pages an insight into any serious political discussions…”
So let’s be clear: Feathers and Stones is explicitly not intended to be taken seriously as a factual document. Yet Ram Puniyani, a man who claims to be on the side of rationalism and truth, cites it on a mass-media platform as evidence to overturn centuries of established historical record regarding Aurangzeb’s temple demolitions.
The “Evidence”: A fifth-hand anecdote based on nothing
What does Feathers and Stones actually say about Aurangzeb and the destruction of the Varanasi temple?
Here is the exact story from the book (paraphrased for clarity):
A certain respected Mullah in Lucknow supposedly had a rare manuscript. This manuscript allegedly described a story where Aurangzeb ordered the demolition of the Varanasi temple because of immoral activities happening there.
- The Mullah told this story to a friend.
- The friend then repeated it to someone else.
- That person then passed it on to Pattabhi Sitaramayya.
- The Mullah died before he could ever show the manuscript.
Let’s track that:
Sitaramayya hears a story,
From someone,
- Who heard it from a friend,
- Who heard it from a Mullah,
- Who read it in an unverified manuscript,
- Which nobody has ever seen.
This is the telephone game meets historical revisionism.
Why this is not just Academic Fraud—but Socially Dangerous
Ram Puniyani’s casual distortion is not a harmless mistake. It’s an act of social and historical subversion.
The temple destruction at Kashi by Aurangzeb is a well-documented historical fact, backed by Mughal court records and physical evidence. The Gyanvapi Mosque stands over the ruins of the destroyed Vishweshwar temple, and this was part of Aurangzeb’s deliberate campaign to stamp out symbols of Hindu resistance and identity. Similarly, his destruction of the Krishna Janmabhoomi temple in Mathura is also confirmed by multiple Mughal-era sources.
To now suggest, based on a fifth-hand rumor from a satirical book, that Aurangzeb’s act was morally justified—that he was in fact protecting morality by destroying a sacred site—is not only a grotesque falsification of history, but also a direct insult to centuries of Hindu suffering.
Such falsifications deepen wounds and inflame tensions. In a nation already fraught with the challenges of communal harmony, such irresponsible storytelling can become a spark in dry hay. When someone with Puniyani’s reach pushes a rumor that paints Hindus as immoral and Aurangzeb as a just ruler, he is fueling resentment and risking social unrest.
The worst part? This story is now going viral among leftist-liberal audiences, who are ironically the first to mock any alternative historical viewpoint as “WhatsApp University.” The same crowd that ridicules primary source-based narratives on Aurangzeb, Tipu Sultan, or Islamic invasions, is now legitimising a fifth-hand oral story from a satire book as real history.
The hypocrisy is staggering. Here’s how the pattern works:
- Liberal academic cites obscure anecdote with no evidence.
- Fellow travelers amplify it as ‘hidden truth’.
- Anyone who challenges it is mocked as ‘communal’, ‘uneducated’, or ‘propagandist’.
This is the same ecosystem that dismissed ground-level accounts of temple desecration, mass conversions, and persecution as myths—until archaeological and archival evidence eventually forced some grudging acknowledgement. Yet, the damage of denial lingers.
