`Lord Ram was born in Pakistan, not Ayodhya`

New Delhi: In what could ignite a controversy, a book has claimed that Lord Ram was not born in Ayodhya, but in Pakistan.

The book by All India Muslim Personal Law Board's member Abdul Rahim Qureshi also raises doubts over belief that Lord Ram was born in Treta Yuga.

In his book “Facts of Ayodhya Episode (Myth of Ram Janmabhoomi)”, the assistant general secretary and spokesperson of the board further alleged that the Ram Janmabhoomi dispute is a relic of the British-era.

Notably, the AIMPLB is a party to the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute pending in the Supreme Court.

Quraishi argues that it was nowhere mentioned in the Vedas or the Puranas that the Gangetic plain is the birthplace of Ram. He further claims that the region of Sapta Sindhu, whose emperor was Lord Ram's father King Dashrath, was actually the land extending from Haryana and Punjab, through Pakistan and up to the eastern fringes of Afghanistan.

The AIMPLB member further quoted former Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) official Jassu Ram to argue that Ram was actually born in Dera Ismail Khan district of Pakistan, in a town called Rahman Dheri, which was earlier called Ram Dheri.

Quraishi adds: “This false story of demolition of Ram Temple for the construction of the Masjid was spread by the British to create discord between Hindus and Muslims. However, that goes against the very character of Babar. I have with me a copy of his last testament where he advised his son Humayun to abolish religious prejudices and refrain from cow slaughter, among other things. The AIMPLB will hold meetings across the country with Hindu leaders to spread awareness about this matter.”

Was Ram was born in Treta Yug? Quraishi thinks `no`.

“According to the Hindu Yuga system of calculation of time, Sri Rama appeared at the end of the 24th or 28th Treta Yug and we are in the 28th cycle of Kali Yuga. This gives the period of Sri Ram approximately 18 million years ago. Nowhere in the world anything, any remains or any relic of a million years past has been found. On the basis of position of stars and constellations given in Ramayana etc experts have calculated the year of his birth as 5561 BC or 7323 BC. But in Ayodhya and other places of UP – whose names appear in Ramayana in connection with some event of Sri Rama story – no human habitation is found beyond 600 BC in the past,” Quraishi writes in his book.

The writer also says that if the present Ayodhya was the birthplace of Ram, it would have been mentioned in Ramayana of Tulsidas, who penned the epic in 1574 CE in Ayodhya.