Adityanath's Taj Mahal visit is an attempt at damage control
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath visited Agra today (October 26) - but that's not news. That the chief minister also visited the Taj Mahal and spent close to 30 minutes at the monument built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in the 17th century is.
Yogi visited the same Taj Mahal whose historical significance he attempted to rubbish and destroy by saying the monument "does not reflect Indian culture".
The visit, which was announced last week, is symbolic because it underscores the point that monuments are often giant albeit silent symbols that make it difficult to negate history. The full brigade of the right-wing nationalists could not rip the Taj off its historical significance and cultural importance.
The Taj Mahal by its sheer existence complicated the myopic historical narratives which make it difficult for BJP to accept the contributions made during the Mughal rule in India.
However, could the visit be seen as Yogi's acceptance of India's composite culture? Unlikely. The chief minister's Taj visit is only a face-saving exercise. The monument for long has attracted foreign tourists and dignitaries. The government's data show every fourth foreign visitor to the country visits Taj Mahal. To say that the Taj is of no significance to Indian culture is a jolt not just to history but also to the tourism industry.
Forget history, if only Yogi had a sense of governance, he wouldn't have had to eat crow now.
Yogi visited the Taj Mahal to 'damage control'. Taj Mahal is a source of revenue and livelihood for scores who live in the western Uttar Pradesh city of Agra. Playing with their sentiments to further his party's divisive agenda is pitiful.
One does not have to go too far back to see what Yogi thinks and feels about the Taj Mahal. In June this year, at a rally in Bihar, Yogi talked about how previous governments gave small replicas of the Taj to visiting foreign dignitaries. The monument does not reflect Indian culture, he commented.
He opened the floodgates to some of the most bizarre and hate-laden comments on the Taj Mahal. Party MLA from UP, Sangeet Som, said the monument was built by traitors. Som said that the Taj Mahal is a "blot on Indian culture".
Senior BJP leader Vinay Katiyar suggested that Taj Mahal be renamed as "Taj Mandir" or "Tejo Mahalaya".
Shockingly, the Taj Mahal even went missing from the UP government's tourism brochure. Faced with backlash, Yogi pretended nobody noticed that he was brazenly playing the politics of polarisation.
The saffron-clad Yogi then went on to say that the Taj Mahal was built by the "the sweat and blood" of Indians and his visit to the monument was scheduled.
Taj Mahal was indeed built by the sweat and blood of Indians over 22 years. The monument that came into existence in 1648, it was commissioned by Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal. That is a fact hate mongers can't distort. Shah Jahan was a Muslim emperor born to a Hindu mother, Jagat Gosaini. The Taj Mahal would have been no less significant even if Shah Jahan's mother had been Muslim, but maybe this piece of information would make it easier for Yogi and his brigade to accept.
The chief minister, who is the mahant (chief priest) of the Goarakhnath Math, launched a project to develop a tourist pathway from Taj Mahal to the famous Agra Fort, another popular tourist attraction.
It is baffling as well as alarming that this politics was being played with a monument of such acute importance to India's tourism. How can men with such little sense of our shared heritage be allowed to govern us?
During his visit to the Taj, he sat through a presentation on the monument. He should have asked the likes of Sangeet Som and Vinay Katiyar to join in and get a sense of what the monument represents.
This breathtakingly beautiful work of architecture has survived many attempts at destruction. It was ravaged by many kings, including Suraj Mal, who raided its silver doors, and it even turned into a party place briefly under the British. The Taj Mahal has survived it all to stand as a testament to everything India is about - diversity and its richness.
Hopefully, Taj Mahal will survive the hatred of the safrron brigade too. The question is how long can Yogi's politics of polarisation survive.