BJP Kisan Morcha claims ASI to conduct excavation at Qutub Minar

Amid the Gyanvapi mosque row, a new controversy over Hindu deities idols found at Qutub Minar has erupted. Following this, the BJP Kisan Morcha on May 22 stated that the Ministry of Culture has instructed the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to conduct the excavation and iconography of idols present at the monument site. 

BJP Kisan Morcha wrote in a tweet, "Excavation will be done in the Qutub Minar complex. Iconography of the idols present in Qutub Minar will be done as per the instructions of the Ministry of Culture".

The Qutub Minar controversy erupted after ASI’s ex-regional director Dharamveer Sharma claimed that the Idols of Hindu deities and that the monument was built by Raja Vikramaditya, a Hindu emperor, and not by Qutb al-Din Aibak. He mentioned that the Hindu emperor built Qutub Minar to study the direction of the sun.

ASI to conduct excavation of Qutub Minar

The Ministry of Culture has asked the ASI to conduct the excavation and iconography of idols and submit the report. This decision was taken by the Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Govind Mohan during a site visit with officials on Saturday, May 21.

Excavation can be started in the south of the minaret at a distance of 15 meters from the mosque. 

Govind Mohan along with three historians, four ASI officers, and researchers visited the site. The ASI officials informed the secretary that the excavation work at the Qutub Minar complex had not been done since 1991.

The excavation is likely to take place at Lalkot Fort and Anangtal in Mehrauli apart from Qutub Minar. 

(Image: PTI)