Muzaffarnagar Riot Accused Sangeet Som Spews Venom On Taj Mahal, Says It Is A Blot On Indian Culture
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had decided to replace the replica of Taj with a copy of Gita as a gift to visiting foreign dignitaries. According to the UP CM, the Taj did not represent the Indian culture.
As the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh tries damage control over the omission of Taj Mahal from the tourism brochure, controversial MLA from Sardhana, Sangeet Som has come out all guns blazing against the iconic building.
BCCL/ File
"Many people were disappointed that the Taj Mahal was removed from Uttar Pradesh tourism booklet. What history are we talking about? The creator of Taj Mahal (Shahjahan) imprisoned his father," Som said on Monday.
"Taj Mahal was built by rulers who wanted to wipe out Hindus from India and Uttar Pradesh. I guarantee you that the history will be changed now. Taj Mahal cannot be a part of our history," he added.
AFP
While BJP Spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao, backed Mr Som while speaking to a TV channel, the party has distanced itself from the MLA known for his controversial comments.
The UNESCO World Heritage Site, which is also one of the seven wonders of the world has been mired in a political controversy ever since the Yogi Adityanath government assumed office in UP.
AFP
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had decided to replace the replica of Taj with a copy of Gita as a gift to visiting foreign dignitaries. According to the UP CM, the Taj did not represent the Indian culture.
Taj had also failed to find mention in the Yogi government's first budget in the special section on cultural heritage.
However, it snowballed into a massive controversy after the Taj was not featured in the state government's tourism booklet.
Faced with massive protests the Yogi government kept on changing its stands.
AFP
UP Tourism Minister Rita Bahuguna Joshi said, ¡°The Taj Mahal has been the legacy of Uttar Pradesh and hence, claiming that the government is ignoring it is wrong.¡±
Laxmi Narayan Chaudhary, the minister in charge of religious affairs and culture said the 17th-century monument was "rightly kept out and should instead be replaced with the Guru Gorakhnath peetha".
Should we leave monuments like the Taj Mahal out of politics?
¡ª Indiatimes (@indiatimes) October 16, 2017
Bobins Abraham is the Assistant News Editor at Indiatimes. He has more than twelve years of experience in TV and digital journalism. An avid student of history and geopolitics, he is a conservationist and environmentalist at heart. He writes on environment, sustainability, human-animal conflict and more.
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