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 Ramkot (Lord Ram's birthplace) 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 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.
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 Lodi was abandoned since its very inception, Shukla says.
The book claims that Babar never went to Faizabad (joined administratively to Ayodhya).
Shukla claims that the British, as part of their conspiracy to drive a wedge between Hindus and Muslims, named the structure as Ram Temple and Babri Masjid.
Also read: The Ayodhya Dispute