Union culture minister GK Reddy on Sunday cleared the air after reports emerged that the Union Ministry of Culture had ordered the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to conduct excavation in the Qutub Minar complex in Delhi.
The minister said that no such direction had been issued, according to India Today report.
Commenting on the reports, GK Reddy said, "No such decision has been taken."
Similar to the current Gyanvapi mosque row, Qutub Minar issue erupted after ASI’s ex-regional director Dharamveer Sharma claimed that the Qutub Minar was constructed by Hindu emperor Raja Vikramaditya and not by Qutb al-Din Aibak, to study the direction of the sun.
It was also claimed that idols of Hindu deities had been found in the complex.
On May 21, Secretary at the Ministry of Culture Govind Mohan visited the site with three historians, four ASI officers and researchers. The ASI officials informed the secretary that excavation work in the Qutub Minar complex had not been done since 1991.
Earlier, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) spokesman Vinod Bansal claimed that Qutub Minar was actually 'Vishnu Stambh' and the structure was built with materials obtained after demolishing 27 Hindu-Jain temples.
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