Taj Mahal cannot be a part of our history: Sangeet Som

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) UP MLA Sangeet Som has an old relationship with controversies. On Monday, Som said the Taj Mahal should not be a part of our history as its creators were the ones who "wanted to wipe out Hindus".

The MLA's comments come in the aftermath of the criticisms faced by Uttar Pradesh government for leaving out the 17th-century monument from the state’s official tourism booklet.

"Many people were pained when the Taj Mahal was removed from the state's tourism booklet. What history are we talking about? The history that the person who built the Taj Mahal (Shah Jahan) locked up his father," Som said at an event in Meerut.

Som added: "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."

Interestingly, the BJP leader incorrectly noted that the creator of Taj Mahal had imprisoned his father. Shah Jahan built the Unesco World Heritage site, who was imprisoned by his son Aurangazeb.

Recently, the UP tourism department released a booklet detailing future plans, including a tour of famous monuments and locations central to Ramayana.

The booklet had mentioned tourist destinations like the Gorakhpur temple, where Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is the chief priest, and excluded the Taj.

The Taj Mahal may be one of the ‘seven wonders of the world,’ attracting millions of tourists each year, but it has failed to feature in Uttar Pradesh’s latest tourism booklet.

The 32-page booklet, which has the famed Ganga aarti as its cover image, has been printed to promote the tourist spots in Uttar Pradesh, but surprisingly the most prominent and popular one is missing.

Titled Apaar Sambhavnaye or ‘Boundless Possibilities’, the brochure released by the Uttar Pradesh Tourism Department displays most of the other cultural and heritage sites in the State, particularly those associated with the Hindu religious tourism. Earlier, it was also reported that the BJP Government in the state had not included Taj Mahal as part of Uttar Pradesh's "cultural heritage".