Union culture minister GK Reddy clarified on Sunday that no directions for excavation at the Qutub Minar complex in Delhi had been issued by the government. Asked if the ministry of culture had issued directions to Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Reddy reportedly said, “No such decision has been taken.”
Reports that ASI is to conduct an excavation at the popular tourist site have been doing the rounds.
As in the Gyanvapi mosque row, the Qutub Minar controversy surfaced after ASI’s former regional director Dharamveer Sharma claimed that the structure was constructed by Hindu king Raja Vikramaditya, and not Qutb al-Din Aibak as is believed. There are claims by several Hindu groups demanding renaming of Qutub Minar complex stating that the place was earlier used for Hindu and Jain temples.
On Saturday, secretary at the ministry of culture, Govind Mohan, visited the World Heritage monument with three historians, four ASI officers and researchers. The ASI officials informed the secretary that excavation work in the Qutub Minar complex had not been done since 1991.
According to reports, the ministry has asked ASI to submit an excavation report and the process can be started in the south of the minaret at a distance of 15 m from the mosque. Sources said the officials have been asked to “dig in” to bring out facts.
Two weeks ago, members of a right-wing group recited the Hanuman Chalisa outside the Qutub Minar complex and staged a protest demanding that the iconic monument be renamed ‘Vishnu Stambha’. At least 30 demonstrators were detained. “They were detained because they cannot protest in the middle of the road causing traffic snarls, thereby creating inconvenience for commuters,” a police official said.
International working president of United Hindu Front, Bhagwan Goyal, alleged that the Qutub Minar is the ‘Vishnu Stambha’, which was built by the “great king Vikramaditya”.
“But later, Qutubuddin Aibak claimed credit for it. There were 27 temples in the complex and those were destroyed by Aibak. Proof of all this is available as people can find idols of Hindu gods kept in the Qutub Minar complex. Our demand is that Qutub Minar should be called as Vishnu Stambha,” he told PTI.
The protestors chanted ‘Jai Shri Ram’, recited the Hanuman Chalisa and displayed placards reading ‘Qutub Minar should be called Vishnu Stambha’, after the Hindu God Vishnu.
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