Ayodhya Revisited— a new book by former IPS Kishore Kunal claims “Ram temple” was not destroyed by Babur

NOW a former IPS officer Kishore Kunal has come out with a 824-page book —Ayodhya Revisited, and also a new theory — Ram temple of Ayodhya was destroyed during Aurangzeb’s time, and not by Babur as was believed earlier. The new book on Ayodhya written by this 1972 batch Gujarat cadre former IPS (incidentally a batch mate of cop-turned politician Kiran Bedi), has been published at a time when major political parties are gearing up for…

2017 UP elections, in which Ayodhya temple issue is likely to resurface. It’s claimed that the book is the result of “monumental research with utmost authenticity and absolute accuracy”. The former IPS officer who had worked on a deputation in the ministry of home affairs in 1990 and also dealt the Ayodhya matters in the ministry at his official capacity, has come out with the new theory in the book that Babur never demolished the original temple and constructed a mosque there which later came to be known as Babri mosque. The Babri mosque was demolished in December 1992. The dispute has been in the purview of the Supreme Court.

After researching old documents of British era and some Sanskrit literature, Kunal claims that there was indeed a temple which was demolished. The author writes in the book that the exact birthplace of Rãma was earmarked by a rectangular "Bedi" measuring 18 feet, 9 inches in length and 15 feet in width, and was located in the inner portion of the disputed shrine.

But according to the former IPS, the temple was not demolished in 1528 by Babur, as was earlier documented, but actually in 1660 when Aurangzeb was ruling the country, and Fedai Khan was his Governor there. 

The book has further incorporated many an unexplored document as a proof to the author's new claims. Former chief justice of India Justice GB Patnaik has written the foreword. 

Kunal, who hails from Bihar, retired in 2001. Post-retirement, he became vice-chancellor of KSD Sanskrit University located in Bihar’s Darbhanga. He is also associated with Bihar Board of Religious Trusts, Patna, a body that monitors the functioning of temples and mutts in Bihar.

The book at Rs 1,100 is however a costly one, but with the UP elections round the corner, a new book on Ayodhya, that too written by a former IPS officer, is unlikely to get junked.