THE BJP rulers of Uttar Pradesh have a medieval communal mindset. Nothing exemplifies this attitude more than their attempt to denigrate the Taj Mahal which is considered as one of the most beautiful buildings in the world.

The vilification of the Taj Mahal was begun by the Chief Minister Adityanath himself. In June this year, he called the Taj Mahal and similar Mughal monuments as not reflecting Indian culture. This was followed by the Uttar Pradesh Tourism department omitting the Taj Mahal from the places of tourist interest of the state in a booklet that it brought out. Instead it highlighted only Hindu religious places of interest including the Gorakhnath Temple of which Adityanath is the Mahant.

It is in defence of the decision to delete the Taj Mahal from the booklet, that Sangeet Som, a BJP MLA, who became notorious for his instigation of the Muzaffarnagar riots in 2013, made the absurd statement that Shah Jahan, the builder of the Taj Mahal, imprisoned his father and prosecuted Hindus. Therefore such a history should be disowned. Som mixed up Shah Jahan with Aurangzeb as it was the latter who imprisoned his father.

After the outcry against this odious remark, Adityanath sought to limit the damage by stating that the Taj was made by the “blood and sweat” of India’s sons and labourers and that the UP government would take steps for the conservation of the monument.

The BJP and the RSS have changed their tactics as far as historical monuments of the Mughal period are concerned. Earlier, the RSS promoted the view that the Taj Mahal was originally a Hindu temple, a view propounded by P N Oak who carried on a lifelong campaign on this issue. Such claims of the Hindu origins of Muslim monuments and mosques were the stable feature of Hindutva propaganda. The most prominent in this line of propaganda being the Ram temple which was demolished for building the Babri Masjid.

Now, however with the BJP and the RSS firmly ensconced in power, a direct attack is being launched against history pertaining to the Mughal period and the historical monuments associated with it. They have been branded as alien to Indian culture and a blot on Hindu civilisation.

This is part of the wider project to rewrite history and to portray anything which goes against the grain of a “glorious Hindu history” as evil, that deserves to be blacked out. The denigration of the Taj Mahal is a striking example of this perverted and bigoted vision of the world.  Such a blinkered approach will only damage the image of Uttar Pradesh and subject the BJP to ridicule among the people.

Unfortunately for the Hindutva zealots, their rants against the Taj Mahal have no takers. The Taj Mahal continues to attract millions of people from around the world and from within India. They recognise its true worth – as a monument of exquisite beauty and love.

(October 18, 2017)