Monday, May 30 2005 20:37 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Lucknow: Adding a new twist to the Ram Temple-Babri Masjid controversy, a book written by a senior Uttar Pradesh Government official in Lucknow claimed the disputed structure was neither built by Mughal emperor Babar nor by any Hindu king.

The structure built on the Ramkot (Lord Rama's birth place) was in fact built by Ibrahim Lodi in memory of his Hindu grandmother Jaiband on December 17, 1523, claims Luxmi Kant Shukla, Special Secretary in the Welfare Department in his book "Wah Re Jhoot" (Lies).

Interestingly, the book was distributed to journalists here by the Directorate of Information and Public Relations of the State Government.

The structure built by Lodi was a temple but Hindus never offered Puja there, as it was built by a Muslim ruler, says Shukla. As a result the inscription on the walls of the structure mentions it as a mosque but Muslims also never offered Namaz there, he says.

The secular structure erected by Ibrahim Lodi was abandoned since its very inception, he says.

The book claims that Babar never went to Faizabad "In fact, he (Babar) never touched Faizabad's boundaries. There is no mention of Mirbaki in the Babarnama".

Shukla claims that the Britishers, as part of their conspiracy to drive a wedge between Hindus and Muslims, named the structure as Ram temple and Babri Masjid'.

Tulsidas had made the disputed building his residence and written the great epic 'Ramcharitmanas' claims the book.

Defending Babar, the book claims his (Babar) will to his son Humayun, which is still safe in the Bhopal State Library amply proves his secular credentials. The testament, translated into English by Syed Mehmood in 1926, makes it clear that Babar could never have thought of demolishing the temple building to construct a mosque, it says.

The book also contains what the author claims documentary evidence to prove its contentions.

The author puts the onus on the Britishers for writing "false" history and says the book was intended to expose "the lies" behind such claims.

For instance the book claims the alleged massacre of 1.74 lakh Hindus in 1528 and erection of the mosque with the bricks mixed with their blood were all "the figment of imagination of the Britishers".

The author cites the diary of the then director of the Archaeological Survey of India A Furore, written in 1889, the poems of Tulsidas, Babar's will, Babarnama to buttress his claims.

Asking the people not to fall prey to what he terms the "conspiracy "of Britishers, the author advocates building of a Manas museum and Tulsi medha Vidyalaya where there was no restriction for any one in getting admission.

Shukla claims his book in fact was an "attempt to reveal the 'Itihas ka sach' (the truth of history).