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NEW DELHI: The rightwing Hindu government in Uttar Pradesh has removed the Taj Mahal from its official list of tourist destinations for which the state is famous, reports said on Monday.
The move follows comments by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath who said the 17th century marvel in Agra does not represent Indian ethos.
A new booklet released by the state government to mark six months of the Bharatiya Janata Party winning charge of India’s most-populous state has deleted any mention of the white marble stunner, reports said.
NDTV said the brochure was released by Tourism Minister Rita Bahuguna who previously headed the Congress party in Uttar Pradesh. It catalogues important tourist destinations, including the temple in Gorakhpur of which Mr Adityanath is the main priest.
“There has been some miscommunication which has undermined the Taj Mahal,” said UP Minister Sidharth Nath Singh. To illustrate that the state government recognises its value, he said, “We are even thinking of constructing an international airport at Agra for the convenience of passengers.”
In June this year, Yogi Adityanath unpacked a major headline and buffed up his perception as a hardline Hindu priest when he said that the monument to love built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan does not reflect Indian culture. He claimed this is why foreign VIPs are gifted copies of the Gita and the Ramayana now by government officials instead of replicas of the Taj.
NDTV quoted opposition leaders as saying the new brochure proves the UP government discriminates against Muslims and attempts to blank out any part of India’s cultural heritage that is not Hindu.
Published in Dawn, October 3rd, 2017
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Comments (79) Closed
Oct 03, 2017 08:18am
very sad to know this...I know 99% indians would object to this move
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Oct 03, 2017 08:21am
Taj Mahal is in UNESCO heritage list and world consider it as most important monument in India. No one has heard or read the UP government list to decide on where to visit. This may reduce funding for Taj but Taj does not need funding.
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Oct 03, 2017 08:27am
Sickening! As an Indian I hope this is not true!
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Oct 03, 2017 08:28am
Proud secular india, good progress.
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Oct 03, 2017 08:29am
Thanks to Jinnah!!
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Oct 03, 2017 08:36am
True its part of Pakistan/Muslim culture, be given to us including all ancient Mughal antiques.
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Oct 03, 2017 08:38am
Hold on before firing comments. This does not represent the common Indian and also as a government , BJP should not do it, if true
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Oct 03, 2017 08:39am
World & tourists already aware of Tajmahal.. so this good out of box thinking to promote other beautiful heritage & cultural tourist destinations by UP government.
70 year old mindset needs to be modernised with following examples:
7th Century Chittorgargh fort
14th century Mehrangarh fort
12th century Sun Konark temple
5th century Ajanta Ellora caves
11th century Chola temples
And above is Not even tip of iceberg with so many Unesco heritage listed tourist gems in and around India and almost in every Indian state which must be promoted.
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Oct 03, 2017 08:45am
Give it back to Pakistan, the rightful owners.
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Oct 03, 2017 08:51am
No one cares. People will go and visit there anyway. We don't have to listen to ant Govt if we don't want to and that is the power of democracy. Republicans do not like Holly Woods in the US, but Holly Wood is thriving anyway.
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Oct 03, 2017 08:51am
Does the yogi understand?d that it is not going to be good for tourism ?
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Oct 03, 2017 08:53am
This is why Two Nation Theory was blessing... This is why the struggle of Kashmiris is right..
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Oct 03, 2017 08:54am
Extremists come in various shapes and sizes
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Oct 03, 2017 08:54am
@sheraz thanks Indeed
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Oct 03, 2017 08:58am
UP earns a lot of revenues from Taj Mahal tourism, in fact in the tourism ad that they feature on national television, they show taj mahal as the major attraction, this is just a goof up which has happened, and the opposition has pounced on the UP government, blaming them that the move was deliberate.
India wont do, what pakistan did to taxila. all monuments are part of indian history, and most Indians are proud of them all. As a matter of fact, india hosts independence day at lal quila, which is a fort built by mughal emperor.
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Oct 03, 2017 08:59am
Times of India has reported as under:
Denying that the Taj was deliberately dropped from the tourism booklet, the UP government asserted that the booklet mentions a number of projects that are being taken up to develop India's attraction and expenditure planned.
Director general UP tourism, told TOI that it was not a compendium of tourist attractions in UP but merely a book which highlight the works done by the incumbent government and the projects it plans to take up and expenditure planned
"There was no question of ignoring the Taj Mahal as it was one of India's biggest attractions," Director told TOI.
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Oct 03, 2017 09:00am
@ASB I am an Indian too and I welcome this step. Have you ever given this a thought - you dont find roads named on Hitler in Europe, or monuments of Mussolini's wife in Italy or Gandhiji's statues in Pakistan? Why? Only in India you will find monuments or roads made in name of Aurangzeb, Babur, Khilji, etc. Do you even know who these people were and what did they do to the Indians for 800+ yrs? If you evaluate their actions in context of present day laws you'll get the answer yourself. Being tolerant doesn't mean we start are bound to show respect to individuals who disrespected our roots & ethos. India is not a 70 yr old country - its a 5000+ yrs old civilization.
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Oct 03, 2017 09:04am
What is represents indians ? We like or dont but we cant change our past , history and reality. Indians a combination of tribes, arya, parsi, chainise and eoropian culture and community and history, a paricular community like arya cant say we are only we are indian. This wrtes only have indian tribes as santal and mizo etc.
I have a object a particular community if they says only they are indian others are not.
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Oct 03, 2017 09:07am
Gross misreporting by sourcing the news from one Newspaper ..... Times of India and Indian Express have subsequently reported in detail clarifying the true position.
UP Government too has clarified that the Book taken for reference is about projects undertaken for attracting tourist and expenditure involved The project for for Taj Mahal is already completed and doesn't appear in the book.
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Oct 03, 2017 09:09am
Thank You Jinnah.
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Oct 03, 2017 09:11am
we really don't bother what is there and what is not there. we are focused on jobs for our youth, electricity. tourism list does not affect common men's problems.
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Oct 03, 2017 09:13am
@A Houston Who cares about tourism!
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Oct 03, 2017 09:17am
@jk Its a beautiful tomb built by a tyrant ruler (who never had Indian roots or ethos) in the name of his wife - thats a fact no matter how hard you want to deny it. Tombs are in no way symbolic to Indian culture no matter how beautiful they are. Can you, for a change, at least start reading about your 5000+ years old roots instead of just 800+ yrs? You wont become less secular by doing that I am sure, but you'll definitely grow up to make informed comments on a sensitive matter.
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Oct 03, 2017 09:17am
Mr Yogi is making the task of freedom fighters in Indian Occupied Kashmir easy!
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Oct 03, 2017 09:18am
Radicalization is hitting South Asia pretty bad.
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Oct 03, 2017 09:20am
Haha, so long for Indian history. The more the Hindus alienate the Muslims, the more it signifies the need for Pakistan as a historical must.
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Oct 03, 2017 09:25am
@Rahul Still 80 percent of Indians will vote for BJP and Yogi Addetyanath
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Oct 03, 2017 09:31am
UNO should take notice. This mind set and hate against Muslims and their history will ultimately lead to severe action against Muslim.
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Oct 03, 2017 09:31am
There is no limit to narrowness of mind.
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Oct 03, 2017 09:35am
@Fazal Karim Your administration historically was not any different.
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Oct 03, 2017 09:35am
Extremism
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Oct 03, 2017 09:37am
no one goes to see taj mahal anymore.
it only looks clean and white marble in pics.
inreality its surrounded by slums and the so called marble is pale and dirty.
no money every spend on it to keep its glory. just on trains and war machines.
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Oct 03, 2017 09:39am
@Rahul Indians elected this government.
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Oct 03, 2017 09:39am
@jk who goes to travel to india anyways dude??
no one wants to see Taj Mahal surrounded by slums and filth
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Oct 03, 2017 09:41am
Does not change anything on the ground. It is stupid nevertheless
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Oct 03, 2017 09:42am
This is just one case
However please see inward before pointing fingers at others.
What have you done to preserve non Muslim structure in the country. Everything was destroyed by Taliban.
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Oct 03, 2017 09:44am
One can only laugh at secular india.
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Oct 03, 2017 09:45am
@Rahul you are wrong 99% Indians(Hindus) agrees with this motion. We don't spend peoples blood and sweat to memorialize a wife's samadi.
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Oct 03, 2017 09:48am
Pakistan has been saying for a long time that all the relics and building made by Muslims and Mughals in India belong to Islamic republic of Pakistan. I am surprised that it has taken Indians so long to understand. Thank you Yogi and Modi. Keep it up, you are doing a wonderful job.
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Oct 03, 2017 09:53am
As an Indian and UPite, I feel very bad if it is true. As per my knowledge, the booklet contains new focus areas of UP tourism which have been neglected. Taj Mahal is crown jewel in Indian Tourism map and no one can remove it.
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Oct 03, 2017 09:54am
Merits of far-right politics ...
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Oct 03, 2017 09:55am
Thankyou Jinnah!! Give every ancient belongings that donot represent india. We will surely keep it :)
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Oct 03, 2017 09:59am
This brings smile on my face !! Every Indian must be amused by the same.
Old news ....wrong reporting by some petty Reporter ...subsequently clarified. The Book taken as reference is not about tourist attractions. But on expenditure planned by the state government. Taj expenditure is already completed on massive project undertaken on it.
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Oct 03, 2017 10:00am
Good move by yogi government.
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Oct 03, 2017 10:02am
@Jamil khan this government came to power as the previous one was corrupt
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Oct 03, 2017 10:14am
That is beyond retarded
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Oct 03, 2017 10:17am
Why Taj-mahal should be portrayed in all the brouchers? It is just one of the thousand marvels present in India.
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Oct 03, 2017 10:17am
I strongly object this move of Yogi government... Hope that Center will ask him to take this rediculous step back... very emberacing...
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Oct 03, 2017 10:17am
Who is intolerant....
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Oct 03, 2017 10:21am
The people who visit TajMahal come to know the history of it then they will never recommend to their kids. MumTaj Mahal had 14 pregnancies in her 19 years of her marriage. After her death her husband married 14 more times. Loveless unhappy marriage affects the children psychology. At the gate of TajMahal needs to be wall memoriam like a Vietnam War Memorial in Washington DC, to honor the engineers and crew who built this structure because after the work was done their hands were cut by MumTaj Mahal's husband.
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Oct 03, 2017 10:22am
This should remain in India and looked after no better than Garbage dump.
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Oct 03, 2017 10:24am
Booklet is "Uttar Pradesh Paryatan-Apaar Sambhavanaayein ", is about exploring possibilities. Means it must be mentioning lesser explored places.
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Oct 03, 2017 10:29am
@Rahul I am sure ... maybe only 1% object on this move. There is a saying "Jiski Lathi usi ki bhans".
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Oct 03, 2017 10:31am
Yogi's days are numbered . First of all , he doesn't have any administrative experience . Secondly he doesn't have even the support from the majority of his MLAs. Thirdly he is not connected to the ground . Decisions like this are detrimental to India and it's image . Taj remains the Taj of India .. with Yogi, Amit and Modi and without them.
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Oct 03, 2017 10:34am
BJP is really fanatic party
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Oct 03, 2017 10:37am
Its Hindustan and remain so!
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Oct 03, 2017 10:37am
@sheraz Why,Jinnah was a visionary who knew what the Hindu Raj meant.
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Oct 03, 2017 10:44am
Not many places can boast of having one of the modern wonders of the world . The primitive thinking of Utter Pradesh government is theatrical. By looking at these elected representatives of the populace , one can extrapolate the poverty in refined thinking of current inhabitants of that state.
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Oct 03, 2017 10:48am
@jk I am sure you wanted to say "proud Hindu India"... You know secular India is history now and you are certainly proud of it.
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Oct 03, 2017 10:48am
Uttar Pradesh government hasn’t “struck off” tajmahal. Infact the list enumerates the hetherto unexploited and underdeveloped tourist sites so that the same could be developed to expand the tourism options for the incoming tourists and to further develop tourism infrastructure in the state. Tajmahal is the crown jewel of UP tourism.
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Oct 03, 2017 10:48am
Just a political stunt.
Regardless of religious identity, all ancient monuments are declared as national treasures of India.
I don't think anyone can hide Taj Mahal from anywhere, whole world knows how to go to Taj.
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Oct 03, 2017 10:50am
What a joke! Making a mockery of humanity.
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Oct 03, 2017 10:56am
I Don't care, Even If they Demolish It. this is None of our Business, Our Business Should be Our own People and Our Own country.
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Oct 03, 2017 10:58am
Whether he remove from booklet or not. People going to visit Taj. It doesn't need any introduction. And people who are commenting that Taj should be given to Pakistan, just come to India and see it once, it is most well maintained monument in India. Even the most famous hindu temples are not so well maintained as Taj. It has highest security. Cleanliness maintained at top notch. Finally govt gets lot of income from it. So they will never ignore it.
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Oct 03, 2017 10:58am
@Truth v2 just give one example
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Oct 03, 2017 11:00am
Give it back to us incl. All other muslim architecture if you don't like them. Its our heritage built by our forefathers.
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Oct 03, 2017 11:05am
Come on Taj mahal is not only spot in india..we are doing this to highlight other spots..Be positive..
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Oct 03, 2017 11:08am
This reflect true face of Indians mindset. It also reconfirm two national theory that lead to division of British India.
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Oct 03, 2017 11:21am
I as an Indian and admirer of heritages is indeed sad after learning this news and am sure almost all of my country's citizens would also be sad. The iconic monument of love is one of the seven wonders. These days there is a tendency to go back in the history, whether it is to rename cities or locations. It would indeed enhance if a monument or city or its roads are named after great personalities, but it should not be after renaming/or attempting to change the history at the whims and follies of some politicians. Bombay was renamed as Mumbai and it took decades for people to digest it. VT (Victoria Terminus) railway station was renamed to CSMT, but people like me still refer it as VT, likewise Madras to Chennai, etc. Any attempt to rewrite history is wrong. This attitude is prevalent not only in India but in many countries. China is going back to history not for inculcating patriotism, but to muzzle into and covet the neighbours' territory. These arbitrary attempts should be stopped.
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Oct 03, 2017 11:33am
Yes, somewhat true . It's not typical indian culture . It was a symbol of slavery .
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Oct 03, 2017 11:33am
@Rahul because of economic value not cultural value
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Oct 03, 2017 11:58am
Now we know the value of our great conntry PAKISTAN!!! Thank you Mohd. Ali Jinnah for giving Pakistan.
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Oct 03, 2017 12:44pm
In the rule of BJP this is one of the manifestations of Hindutva that has taken over Hinduism - a religion that preaches love and peace. Enlightened Indians understand it and oppose such moves.
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Oct 03, 2017 12:46pm
@mimi sur Mughals made India their country. They did not subjugate it. They did not rule it from Baghdad. Hence, the Mughal rule is not a reminder of slavery. It only shows you are suffering from inferiority complex.
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Oct 03, 2017 12:54pm
Only Threat, impossible to removed wonder of the world
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Oct 03, 2017 01:00pm
As an Indian I feel ashamed of this move
Yogi must come down for goodness of India
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Oct 03, 2017 02:37pm
@PAK-OZ :
Living aside this article, have you actually been there? It's an absolutely stunning monument and over run with crowds of foreign and Indian tourists. No effort and expense is spared to maintain the Taj and areas surrounding it. No petrol/diesel vehicles are allowed near it to reduce pollution and tourists are transported by electric vehicles. Whatever the current perception it will always remain a symbol of India and Indians are proud of it.
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Oct 03, 2017 03:23pm
The minister has accepted that it is a mistake.
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Oct 03, 2017 05:11pm
@Ahmad agreed to a Pakistani.
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