‘Will you also ask Yogi to give up saffron at Taj’
AGRA: A day after foreign supermodels were asked to remove saffron stoles before entering the Taj Mahal, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has asked the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) if it would also ask chief minister Yogi Adityanath to give up his saffron attire before entering the monument of love.
Protesting the ASI action and demanding action against those guilty, Vijay Shivhare, city unit president of BJP, has written a letter to minister of state for tourism (independent charge) Mahesh Sharma in this regard.
The supermodels from different nations, who are in India to take part in an event to be held in Delhi on April 22, visited the Taj Mahal on Wednesday. A few of them had saffron stoles with “Shri Radhey” written on them which they used to protect themselves from the heat.
While going through checking at entry point, some of the supermodels were asked to leave the bands bearing the name of the sponsor company and national flags of their countries outside, as any promotional material is not allowed inside the monument. They were also told to not take the saffron stoles with them inside the Taj, claimed Sushant Gaur from the tourism police, who accompanied the supermodels.
He claimed the guide with the group, and not the security men, had asked them to leave saffron stoles at the check point.
A BJP office-bearer, meanwhile, has asked party supporters to wear saffron and gather at Taj Mahal on Saturday.
“It is totally unacceptable that male security personnel force women models to discard stoles mainly because they are saffron,” said Avinash Rana, state general secretary of Hindu Jagran Manch.
“If saffron stoles are not permissible inside Taj Mahal, then Muslims should also not be allowed to enter wearing skull caps,” he said.
Chief superintending archaeologist, Agra circle, Bhuvan Vikram Singh said that he was unaware of the incident. “I have asked the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) officials to find out about the incident. They will submit a report within three days,” he said.
Tourism trade pundits, meanwhile, have expressed concern over the saffronisation controversy.
“There should not be any politics on tourism front,” said Rajeev Tiwari, chairman, federation of travel associations.
He, however, admitted that rules on prohibited materials should be re-assessed as there remains ambiguity, which causes such controversies.
“Everyone is free to wear what they want. And if there is a rule prohibiting anybody from wearing anything, it should be reviewed,” said Tiwari.
TOURISM TRADE PUNDITS HAVE EXPRESSED CONCERN OVER THE SAFFRONISATION CONTROVERSY