The VHP activists who are leading the movement for the construction of the Ram temple at the Babri Masjid site are bound to complicate the problem by reasserting claims for demolition of many other mosques in India if the excavations in Ayodhya uncover evidence of the existence of a temple at the site of the Babri Masjid. During Muslim rule in the country, many temples were looted, destroyed or razed to the ground. At many places, mosques were built on the destroyed sites. Not only that, even rocks and other building material used for the construction of temples was refashioned or redesigned to serve as pillars or floors for mosques in the past.

For the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in India, as is the case now, it would be difficult to turn down the demand for excavation of other disputed sites. Even if the Congress came to power after the parliamentary elections next year, it would not be easy for it to ignore demands for excavation at other places to uncover the existence of temples long buried. In fact, fearing demands for excavation at other sites, Muslim groups have already started voicing their opinion against the moves to undo what had happened in India during the period the country was ruled by Muslim invaders from Afghanistan and beyond.

As Hindu fundamentalists and their sympathisers and supporters in the Vajpayee government are keen to rewrite Indian history in accordance with their own thinking, it seems the stage is being set for further queering the communal pitch in India. Will wiser counsel prevail upon the government and will it let bygones be bygones or allow history to be overturned? It is a difficult question to answer at this stage for the country’s politics is presently being determined by electoral gains. If a party in power finds the ground slipping from under it, it may resort to any measures regardless of the consequences. A party aspiring to gain power may promise Utopia to the electorate and thus come under obligation to meet all their demands after assuming power.

There is no doubt that raking up the past can lead to serious communal problems in secular India thanks mainly to the warped history of the country. This is not a new development; it was known even to the British when they ruled the country. The Muslim dread of the excavation now underway in Ayodhya is understandable for it is a fact that some 3,000 temples were turned into mosques or darghas in India in the past. The minority community fears that discovery of evidence relating to the Ram temple in Ayodhya would make the Hindu fundamentalists make similar demands for excavations at other places. All this, if allowed to happen, would give a setback to Islam in India. Commenting on what had happened at many places in the country, officers of the Archaeological Survey of India frankly stated in their annual reports, which are still lying intact in the archives of the country, that nearly all mosques and darghas built before the Lodi dynasty came to rule the country were direct conversions of Hindu temples. The buildings continued to stand as they were. Either the heads of human or animal figurines were cut off or their faces disfigured. Thereafter, mehrabs were fitted to indicate the direction of namaz. Mimbars ( raised platforms) were built for the imams to stand on and read their khutbas.

J. D. Beglar, Assistant Director of the Archaeological Survey of India, in his report for 1871-72, stated: "Before the arrival of the Mughals, the Islamic approach to architecture was barbarous. The religion of the invaders demanded the suppression of the aesthetic feelings and they did not hesitate in destroying whatever fine or beautiful they saw in buildings. But with the advent of the Lodis, who preceded the Mughals, direct conversion of temples to mosques was much reduced and the technique of recycling was developed. The old temples were brought down to the ground level. The foundation was used to rebuild a newly designed masjid or dargah. The rubble comprising well- polished columns, slabs and stones was extensively used. Care was taken to ensure that the original carvings, whether of faces, bells or flowers, were concealed by being turned either into the floor or the walls. Only the reverse smooth side of the stone was exposed."

The Muslim dread of excavation dates back to 1871 when Beglar had suggested the taking up of aspects of the Qutab Minar as well as the tomb of Sultan Gari in Delhi. "I am most sanguine that on a careful examination of the inner courtyard, after stripping the irregular layers of stones which Muhammedan barbarism has spread, traces will be discovered of some central shrine." But the then colonial government did not give permission for any such excavation, which could uncover history. After Independence in 1947, the Congress leaders were also keen not to do anything which could reopen communal wounds. No wonder when Maulana Abul Kalam Azad became the Education Minister in 1947, the ASI was directed not to rake up controversies. A series of legislative enactments were passed to regulate archaeological excavations. The government’s policy was not to excavate freely but to protect what had been discovered. Finally, the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act was passed in 1991. It declared that the character of any place of worship, as it existed on August 15, 1947, could not be changed.

The government’s preference for concealing rather than excavating or uncovering artifacts which may throw new light on history is illustrated by what happened to the Rudramahalaya complex at Siddhpur in Gujarat Following repeated demands by local Muslims, the Archaeological Survey of India decided to beautify the surroundings of the Jama Masjid. As the digging began to lay a garden in the surroundings, several artifacts including a Nandi bull were recovered. These discoveries made it plain that buried under the mosque was irrefutable evidence of Hindu heritage. But the discoveries embarrassed the local Muslims so much that they sought the intervention of the Gujarat Government, the Ahmedabad High Court as well as the active intervention of the National Minorities Commission to stop further excavation. Their advocate himself supervised the burial of the fresh artifacts. Evidence of Hindu artifacts was also discovered at Bijamandal in Vidisha, 40 km from Bhopal. Lest the discovery provoke Hindus to demand further excavation at the site, the evidence was hushed up, buried under the earth again.