His strong and forceful views supporting the existence of a ram temple under the demolished disputed structure in Ayodhya was widely discussed and debated.
A protege of the late Braj Basi Lal, a former Director General of the ASI, and a vocal proponent of the temple-beneath-the-masjid theory, Muhammed has stayed in the limelight for the past two decades.
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Feted by supporters of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement even as critics saw him as a willing participant in a polarising Hindutva political project.
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He is also the second person from Kerala, after Faizabad district magistrate KK Nair, who took a stance favourable to Hindu ownership of the land on which the Babri Masjid stood in 1949.
KK Muhammed, an archaeologist and a member of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) team which undertook the first excavation at Babri Masjid in 1976-77, often makes a statement.
“Do I come across as a BJP man, someone who stands for the Hindu cause?”
It’s a label he is terribly uncomfortable with and wants to shake off. A liberal Muslim who wanted to heal wounds and build bridges between two communities is the mantle perhaps he yearns for.
A former regional director of the ASI, Muhammed has for long argued that Muslims should voluntarily hand over the property to Hindus because of his conviction that they have a greater claim on it due to reasons of faith.
He strives to portray himself as a liberal Muslim in favour of the community giving up two more places of worship built by Aurangzeb – the Shahi Eidgah masjid in Mathura, which stands adjacent to the Krishna Janmasthan temple, and the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi.
In a recent interview former ASI Director Muhhammad, commented, “Handing over Gyanvapi and Mathura to Hindus is the only lasting solution to this issue. All the religious leadership should in unison hand over these structures to the Hindu community. Kashi, Mathura and Ayodhya are very important for Hindus as they depict Lord Shiva, Lord Krishna and Lord Shri Ram. There are no emotions attached to Muslims for these mosques.”
Adding further, he stated, “I am happy as a professional archaeologist and that a majestic temple for Lord Ram has come up in Ayodhya. An archaeologist is not a Hindu or a Muslim. I am a professional archaeologist and I am professionally very happy that several years of excavations and scientific findings have given a correct result.”
KK Mohammed, who retired as the Regional Direct of Archaeological Survey of India, is credited with several key findings such as discovery of Ibadat Khana, a complex built by Mughal Emperor Akbar for hosting religious debates and discussions among theologians and scholars of various religions.
