Historian Akhilesh Mithal is not alone in taking the view that the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) draws its 'inspiration' from the British, and it 'can be seen in the temples they wish to restore/rebuild/reconsecrate. These are the ones associated with Muslims. (But) there is no memory of the temples pulled down, desecrated and obliterated by the British.'

Mithal quotes from a contemporary account of how the British dealt with the uprising led by Nana Sahib Peshwa during the 1857 'Mutiny' of 1857.

One by one all the separate 'mutinies' were put down. Nana Sahib Peshwa was defeated, the British recaptured Kanpur ...

After securing Kanpur white British soldiers and their native mercenaries entered the capital of the Peshwa-in- exile, Bitthour-Brahmavarta, and by the evening thousands were slaughtered and the town iay desolate. Next day was given to looting ..

The white soldiers ... then set fire to the Peshwa's palace They also destroyed the beautiful Rama temple and smashed the icons ... There was another temple for Lord Shiva on the banks of the Ganges. The tommies 'looted the temple, demolished the structure, pulverised the stones' and ground the idols into powder, levelling to earth the entire structure.

'Bitthour can support temples to the Lord Rama ... But no one will target these. The focus will continue where there are mosques or as in the case of Ajudhiya (Ayodhya) where there was a mosque. Alas!' the VHP. (Source: The Asian Age, London, 5 May, 1998) (Courtesy: The Impact International, July, 1998)