(a) whether attention of the Government has been drawn to the newsitems captioned “Organised bid to rewrite history†appearing in the ‘The Hindu†dated January 03, 2001;
(b) if so, the facts of the matter reported therein;
(c) the steps taken by the Government to see that no alteration is made to the present history;
(d) whether the Indian Council of Historical Research had recently made a comment on the disputed site at Ayodhya; and
(e) if so, the reaction of the Government thereto?
MINISTER OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT ( DR. MURLI MANOHAR JOSHI )
(a) to (e) Government is aware of the fact
that a news item appeared in the Hindu on 3rd
January 2000, captioned “Organised bid to
rewrite historyâ€. This news item interalia
referred to a statement which appeared in the
National Newspapers on 18.12.2000 in the name
of Dr. Sushil Kumar Director (Research &
Administration), ICHR relating to Ayodhya
issue. As informed by ICHR the matter was asked
to explain his position for further necessary
action. Dr. sushil Kumar informed the Council
that he had made no such statement to the
Press. A rebuttal of the news item by Dr.
Sushil Kumar was also published in the Asian
Age dated 22.12.2000.
The Indian Council of Historical
Research has also informed that no comment
has been made on behalf of the Council in
this regard.