Agra: Not only India is worried about the Taj Mahal’s fortune, but people around the world are now observing the omission of the Taj from Uttar Pradesh’s tourism guide.
As per a report by NDTV, many international channels including Washington Post and BBC reported a news on Tuesday asking: “Is India neglecting its iconic Taj Mahal because it was built by Muslims?”
A 32-page booklet entitled “Uttar Pradesh Tourism – Unlimited Possibilities” was released by Yogi Adityanath led government, which contained no trace of one of the seven wonders on the earth, i.e Taj Mahal.
Earlier this year, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said: “Foreign dignitaries visiting the country used to be gifted replicas of the Taj Mahal and other minarets which did not reflect Indian culture.”
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Abhishek Manu Singhvi, a spokesperson from Congress party said: “How can you imagine tourism in Uttar Pradesh or India without (the) Taj Mahal. If it is indeed a booklet on tourism and excludes the Taj, it shows a clear religious bias which is completely misplaced. At one level it is a joke and at another level it is tragic. Such pettiness diminishes India.”
Famous writer and historian William Dalrymple wrote: “Crazy fundo monk Yogi Adityanath government removes Taj Mahal from Uttar Pradesh’s tourism list,” Kashmir Observer quoted.
UP government have now had enough criticism on Twitter as well, that it should now try to revive the situation.
Tourism officials in Agra said, the hint that the monument may be neglected by the current administration in favour of Hindu religious sites was unfortunate, given its needs.
“The current state government is not supporting Agra as a tourist destination because of its Mughal monuments. Money for tourism development has not been announced. Their focus is on religious tourism,” said Rajiv Saxena, secretary of the Tourism Guild of Agra.
Yogi’s government is focussed on promoting places such as the ancient city of Varanasi, a site for Hindu pilgrims, and Gorakhpur, where he is the chief priest of a large temple, critics have said.