August 01 , 2008

Another Attempt Foiled to Set up Temple in Taj Mahal

           
A group of Hindu fanatics made another attempt last week to storm Taj Mahal and set up a temple on the premises in pursuance of the myth that the architectural marvel, one of the wonders of the world, was not built by the Mughal emperor, Shah Jehan, but that it was a Shiva temple built by a local Hindu ruler and Shah Jehan had simply usurped it to turn it into a Mausoleum for his queen, Mumtaz Mahal.
The security personnel easily foiled the attempt; for, it had no popular backing, it was no mass movement. It made little sense to even the credulous. Credit must be given to quick and timely action by the authorities who avoided a repeat of the Gujrat communal riots of Feb-November, 2002 in which hundreds of persons lost their lives and dozens of mosques and other sacred places were destroyed. Connivance of Gujrat Chief Minister, Narindra Modi, is often mentioned.
The far-fetched mythology about the origin of Taj Mahal was weaved by Purshuttam Nagi Oak (March 1917-December 2007) an Indore-born extremist masquerading as a research scholar on the monument. In his book “Taj Mahal: The True Story”, he makes the preposterous claim that the mausoleum had originally been a Hindu temple built by a local ruler.
Oak has also claimed that the shrine in Mecca had a Vedic past like the historic buildings in Vatican.
He alleges that the eyewitness accounts of Taj Mahal’s construction as well as the documents recording Shah Jehan’s instructions at various phases of the work, and the voluminous financial records were elaborate frauds calculated to hide its Hindu origin. Indian authorities’ refusal to allow him unfettered access to probe into the tombs and chambers was called by him a conspiracy against Hinduism.
In 2000 India’s Supreme Court dismissed his petition to declare the architectural marvel a Hindu monument. The court reprimanded him for bringing the action and ridiculed him for having “a bee in his bonnet”. Five years later, a similar petition was made by a Hindu preacher and social worker,
Amar Nath Mishra, to the Allahabad High Court claiming that the mausoleum was built by a Hindu King, Parmar Dev, in 1196. The court dismissed the petition with the contempt it deserved.
The buffoonery involving the Taj crossed all limits of logic when early in 2002, a rumor was set afloat that Lashker-e-Taiba, a Kashmiri militant outfit that was blamed for the attack a few days earlier on the Indian Parliament had e-mailed to the provincial authorities a threat to blow up Taj Mahal  in retaliation for any action against the suspected terrorists.  A day later, a follow up story circulated through AFP said that the “monument to love could have its fabled marbled dome and minarets covered with dark cloth as a protection against possible bombing raids”.
The entire story, from the e-mail threat to the projected veiling of the beauty in marble, appeared to be an amateurish attempt at psychological warfare.  No wonder it turned out to be a damp squib.
Three years back when I visited the mausoleum, I was highly impressed by the official commitment to the maintenance and protection of the world wonder. All factories emitting smoke had been removed from the vicinity of the 360-year old marvel of architectural beauty. Only electric cars and rickshaws were allowed to ply on the roads to make sure that their emissions do not tarnish the marble. The concerned authorities deserve much admiration for the meticulous care.
The Taj is undoubtedly the finest architectural monument built in the subcontinent by the Mughal rulers during their 331-year dynasty. The forts, mosques, gardens and mausoleums bear testimony to their building genius.
In 1983 the Taj became a ‘UNESCO World Heritage Site’ and was cited as “the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of world’s heritage”. It has since been added to the list of the wonders of the world. Dedicated to his queen, Mumtaz Mahal, who died giving birth to his thirteenth child, it was aptly described by Rabindranath Tagore as “one tear drop upon the cheek of time”. It took 16 years for some 20,000 workers to complete the monument.
It attracts 200,000 to 400,000 visitors, both local and foreign, each year. Foreign tourists are charged entry fee at a much higher rate than the local visitors. It is a thus a great source of income for the Indian tourist industry. 
How can anyone think of damaging such a masterpiece and an invaluable national asset?   Poverty and ignorance spawn illogicality and feed superstition. There is thus no dearth of crazies on both sides of the border.  Their rational instincts appear to be on an infinite vacation. 
Geo TV’s Indian correspondent attributed to elements of Shiv Sena the latest episode to set up a temple in Taj Mahal.  The BJP’s commitment to impart a saffron tinge to Indian society, the basic concept behind Hindutva, setups such as Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal –to mention just a couple- have found little favor with the vast majority of the country’s population who seek education and knowledge, socio-economic progress and independence, and a life free of the fetters of the caste system and narrow religious beliefs.  During the three visits I made over the past five years, I gained the impression that a quiet revolution was taking shape; the old order was changing, yielding place to a new and much healthier one.  
This shift augurs well for Indo-Pakistan relations too, although the fifth round of talks between the senior officials of the two countries held in July failed to record substantial progress. The talks frozen in the murky memories of the past will have to yield to a genuine commitment to cooperation for a better future for the generations to come. The society at large should treat with disdain the fanatics who want to ignite religious frenzy by launching asinine bids like setting up a temple in Taj Mahal.
The situation on the Pakistan side of the border is perhaps even worse. The society was thrusting forward, despite being on a roller coaster ride, till it got embroiled into the decade-long Afghan war. It was projected as a conflict between Islam and a godless ideology. Once the Soviet Union was pushed back and it collapsed soon after, the zealots who had been fondly called Mujahedeen and freedom-fighters, turned into Al Qaeda terrorists and Taliban fanatics ready to die as suicide bombers at the behest of their foggy-minded, obscurantist masters in the caves of Afghanistan’s Tora Bora or the rugged terrain of the tribal belt of Pakistan’s frontier region. They constitute the biggest challenge today for both Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The writ of the Afghan President is so constrained that he is called the mayor of Kabul. While Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani of Pakistan reigns over the country, real power is in the hands of Asif Ali Zardari who is not even a member of the parliament. With weak leaders at the helm of affairs in both Afghanistan and Pakistan, the militant Taliban are consolidating their hold. Gilani government has decided to negotiate peace deals with their leaders. Such deals do not buttress the inherent weakness; they invite further demands and aggression. You cannot debate with a fanatic who has a bee in his bonnet. He had no compunction in demolishing the Buddha statutes of Bamian.  He has, therefore, to be dispensed with in the same way as the Indian authorities dealt with the Hindu fanatics in the recent Taj Mahal episode or like the judgment handed down to the Indian version of Taliban  --Purshutam Nagi Oak.