By Akshat Vachher
The Uttar Pradesh tourism department has released its tourism booklet-Apaar Sambhavnayen. The new booklet has garnered a lot of controversies already as it has left out the Taj Mahal as one of the tourist attractions. The brochure displays cultural and heritage sites, specifically the ones related to the Hindu religion and its places of worship. The government has drawn flak from various media houses, professors, research organizations and allegations of being communal have been levied.
What could be the real motive?
But is the move really communal? Since, it gets funding from various sources, specifically the Archaeological Survey of India as it is responsible for its conservation and maintenance. So, the government may have felt that the Taj Mahal already gets a lot of funding and not giving it enough importance will result in funds being allocated to other tourist places that lack funding. Moreover, the state tourism minister, Rita Bahuguna Joshi has claimed that the state is committed to developing the world heritage site. Agra is also on its way to be developed as a smart city. A press release by the UP government reads,
Tourism projects worth Rs 370 crore are proposed, under which schemes worth Rs 156 crore are meant for the Taj Mahal and its surrounding areas in Agra. The government in its defence has also claimed that the projects have been worked on in consultation with the world bank and have been submitted to the union government for approval.
Promoting Hindutva in name of tourism?
However, in June, Adityanath said that Ramayana and Bhagwad Gita and not the Taj Mahal are true representations of Indias culture. While listing the PMs achievements, the UP CM mentioned how foreign dignitaries are given a copy of the Gita instead of a model of the Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal finds no mention in the special section, Hamari Sanskratik Virasat (Our Cultural Heritage), of the 2017-18 annual state budget. In practice, the government has only formulated schemes for maintenance of places of Hindu cultural and historical places as suggested by the state budget as well, so it becomes difficult to believe the UP governments press release about planning projects for the Taj Mahal. Also, the press release did not release any official statement or work done. The budget launched a Swadesh Darshan Yojna Scheme that has allocated Rs. 1240 crores, laying emphasis on the Ramayana circuit. Another scheme, Prasad Yojna, has allocated 800 crores to develop infrastructure facilities in Hindu pilgrimage cities such as Ayodhya, Mathura and Varanasi. On the other hand, no such significant scheme seems to exist to preserve Muslim cultural and heritage sites in the states. The tourist booklet has also left out Bara Imambara, a monument that not only has religious significance for Muslims but is also situated in Lucknow.
After looking at both sides, it seems difficult to see how ignoring the Taj Mahal does not seem to reflect a communal ideology on the governments part. Ignoring the Taj Mahal has other economic repercussions as well. Apart from a lot of tourists generating revenue for not just UP, but also India, the world heritage site is a source of livelihood to many people and generates jobs of various kinds.
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