Tourism industry jittery over Taj Mahal tussle

By Brij Khandelwal

Agra: An uncalled for controversy over who "owns" the Taj Mahal is worrying the tourism industry here. Hoteliers and tour operators fear that the mounting row between vocal sections of Hindus and Muslims could adversely affect tourist flow to the17th century monument of love.

Even the smallest incident of communal violence in Agra has the potential to turn away tourists who come to see the Taj in millions. "The central government should take immediate steps to defuse the emotional build up," said Surendra Sharma, a key figure in the tourism industry here.

Agra Tourist Welfare Chamber convener Prahlad Agarwal said the controversy affected the dignity of the heritage monument now celebrating its 350th year of existence. It all began when the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Wakf Board locked horns with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) over the "ownership" of Taj Mahal.
Azam Khan, the Uttar Pradesh urban development and wakf minister, stunned everyone when he questioned the status of ASI, a New Delhi-controlled body, as the Taj Mahal's custodian. He said Mughal emperor Shahjahan, who built the Taj, had explicitly transferred its management to the wakf, a Muslim body in charge of Islamic affairs. "Once the monument is handed over to the Wakf Board, the earnings from the monument would be used for the welfare of Muslims," Sunni Central Wakf Board chief Mohammed Usman has said.   

Anjuman-e-Mohammedia, founded in 1909, joined the bandwagon saying it was the real inheritor of the disputed property. The comments triggered an angry response from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, which re-ignited previous claims that the Taj is Hindu property. VHP leader Pravin Togadia and Bajrang Dal leader Vinay Katiyar have held meetings in Agra, Etah, Aligarh and Etawah and threatened to constitute "Bhole Sena" to oppose the Muslim claims. He said the Taj should be renamed. Katiyar has come out with a long list of identification marks to "prove" that the Taj Mahal was originally a Shiva temple. (Click Here For Details About This Claim) "The Wakf has done us a favour by offering us an emotional plank to mobilise public opinion," said district Bajrang Dal leader Premendra Jain.

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