Taj, a symbol of love, now a target of hate

The Rightist fringe has lost its marbles over a monument that symbolises love; what a shame

He must be against marbles, having lost his.” Not my line but this is what someone spouted on Twitter about an Indian leader from the ruling Right who called the builders of the world famous Taj Mahal traitors. Another nut job from the party in power wanted it renamed Tejo Mahalaya and claimed it was a temple, not the tomb of a queen.

I realise that I’m getting better at curation as the level of discourse in India hits rock bottom. Curation is an escape hatch where I am allowed to pick and choose some nice stuff that’s online as I search for a distracted audience with limited attention spans. There’s nothing original about what’s you’re reading; the writing is incidental. I may sound like I’m losing my marbles, but let me assure you that I’m not. I’m merely trying to drive home a fundamental, fanatical point with all the puns at my disposal as I become increasingly frustrated with chaos that is becoming governance in vast, pluralistic and secular India, a democratic socialist republic.

Three years ago, diversity was the main reason why I gave the Right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party my support. Political diversity, I believed, was what the country needed after a decade of corruption under the Congress and its ruling dynasty. I now confess that I’m chuffed.

Let me get back on track to the bigots in question, communal rabble-rousers who don’t deserve to be named. But let me shame them if I can: Sangeet Som and Vinay Katiyar. Som said the Taj was a blot on Indian culture, the other goon said a temple once stood at the same spot in Agra. Shameful indeed. Both have made a monumental blunder with their comments . Meanwhile, the chief minister of the state of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath, is on his own mission to make his state a religious tourism destination while attempting to wipe out cherished common history and heritage.

So why blame Som or Katiyar when Yogi Adityananth, the Indian version of Vin Diesel fuelled the flames over the Taj earlier this month when his government did not mention the country’s (and the world’s) eternal monument of love in a government brochure? The booklet promoted sites like Varanasi and Yogi’s own town of Gorakhpur where he serves as a priest in a temple. Last heard, the celibate chief minister aims to contain the damage and promised a visit to the country’s premier tourist attraction later next week. He even took pains to call it a labour of love because of the blood and sweat of many Indians who toiled to build it some 500 years ago.

“It does not matter who built it and for what reason; it was made by the sons of Bharat Mata (Mother India). It was built by the blood and sweat of Indian labourers. I don’t want to go into details

When I think of the Taj, I’m amazed by a love that is patient and kind. I’m reformed by a love that is not easily angered and keeps no record of wrongs and I cherish a love that does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. Such a love always protects and trusts of who built the Taj and why they made it.” Too much to ask of a chief minister who is neither sage nor a philosopher.

Yogi is a bachelor, and you must be wondering what’s love got to do with a single simpleton in saffron robes who has given up the world for political capital and the trappings of power. Nationalism is the cliche used by the government’s critics who are of pseudo secular, secular and liberal stock. Others term the the Rightist fringe fascist but I prefer to call it a sick majoritarian mindset that believes in a chimeric Pan-Indian, or Aryan culture that predates the Greeks (they invaded India in 326 BC). Christianity was introduced into the country with the arrival of Thomas, a disciple of Jesus, in 52 AD. Islam arrived with the Delhi Sultanate (1206-1526) and the Mughal Empire (1526-1858). The world’s largest democracy is Buddhist, Jain, Sikh, Parsi, Hindu, Muslim, Christian and Jewish. Together they are the peaceful majority today, the essence of the idea of India — secular and tolerant — that welcomes other cultures and civilizations and changes with the times for the sake of humanity. There is place for everyone in this country of 1.2 billion.

When I think of the magnificent structure built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in the 17th Century in honour of his wife Mumtaz who died at childbirth, I feel sorrow and heartbreak. I love the richness and value it has added to my heritage as an Indian and I’m filled with gratitude when I think of the magnitude of the ruler’s achievement.

I remember first visiting the monument in my teens. I only had a whiff of love then, not the allconsuming kind that the emperor felt for his wife. This marvel, a fusion of Islamic and Indian styles of architecture, is often called the seventh wonder of the world. I later visited the Taj as an adult and loved its sheer grandeur, which is l still love — aweinspiring, eternal, lavish, or even the intimidating kind. Who but Shah Jahan could have built this massive mausoleum which took some 20 years and 20,000 workers to complete?

When I think of the Taj, I’m amazed by a love that is patient and kind. I’m reformed by a love that is not easily angered and keeps no record of wrongs and I cherish a love that does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Again, not my line. I curated it from the Bible.

And yes, I intend to visit the Taj for the third time. I will pose with the one I love beside the mausoleum against those who have lost their marbles and whose hearts have turned stone cold. I will do it for love of the Taj, inspired by the enduring love that Shah Jahan had for Mumtaz. I hope you do the same too, and experience the magic of the monument that symbolises love like no other.

allan@khaleejtimes.com