Taj Mahal politics in Uttar Pradesh

The Taj Mahal, not the luxury hotel in Mumbai, but the iconic monument in Agra, a testimony to undying love from the great Mughal emperor Shah Jahan to the love of his life Mumtaz Mahal, has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. For long celebrated as one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites and declared one of the ‘New 7 Wonders of the World’. An irresistible magnet for tourists, the Taj Mahal is considered a jewel in the crown among India's vast cultural riches. One small catch, though. The present administrative dispensation in the Uttar Pradesh government, the state where the Taj stands in all its magnificence, does not seem to see eye to eye on this point with the rest of the world. In their latest official list of cultural heritage sites to see in UP, the tourism department has conspicuously omitted to mention this top-of-the-mind symbol of India  

As to why such an unfathomably mindless decision was taken, the government spokesperson could respond in no more intelligent a fashion than to say that the state had many more wonderful tourist attractions to talk about than, presumably, to keep harping on this marble mausoleum! Not to mention the humongous amount of foreign exchange and wealth that has accrued to the state on the strength of the Taj alone, which the state exchequer may come to rue later on, if the tourists to the Taj dry up. Not that there's any danger of that. Honestly, one would have thought the young and vigorous new Chief Minister of UP would have had far more pressing issues to deal with than to foist another needless controversy on the body politic.

Happily, there are some fleeting signs of the government softening its stand, what with the CM taking a sight-seeing tour of the Taj and making conciliatory, if qualified, noises. It would be instructive, at this juncture, to speculate on what the harvest would be if other states in the country decided to take a leaf out of the UP example and start reviewing their own priorities on cultural icons and monuments, depending on how the prevailing political winds are blowing.

For starters, the West Bengal government may decide that the Victoria Memorial, a tribute to Britain's longest serving monarch, a sparkling centrepiece (along with the Howrah Bridge), to Calcutta's otherwise dreary skyline, is surplus to requirements. What if they considered bringing it down, handing it over to a rapacious property developer, to build yet another depressing block of concrete residential structures? Far fetched? Not when you consider that a previous government took down Lord Curzon's statue, within the Memorial's precincts and replaced it with, in the words of author Krishna Dutta, ‘an awkward statue of Sri Aurobindo, the Bengali revolutionary turned mystic-sage. His beard and robe look rather incongruous among the British figures, historical and allegorical - an example of confused post-colonial correctness’. The pygmy size of the statue looks totally out of proportion to the plinth dimensions, leading some cynics to aver that they retained the original plinth on which Curzon stood, to save costs!

If doing away with symbols built by those who ruled our country for long periods of time by subsequent dispensations becomes the norm, then history, as we know and understand it, will cease to exist. For instance, the ‘club culture’ was clearly a concept the British introduced in India. Successive generations of Indians in a free India, have enjoyed the grand ambience and hospitality these unique establishments provide. Yes, you have to pay an arm and a leg, and wait endlessly to become a member, if at all vacancies exist, which they invariably don't. Yes, there is a certain snobbishness associated that necessarily goes with being a member of a reputed club. Yes, we have to countenance the odd societal conflict with regard to formal dress codes and other ‘stiff upper lip’ strictures introduced by our then rulers, and continued even now, out of a sense of tradition rather than subservience. An anachronism, some may think so.

Bangalore Club, The Willingdon Club in Mumbai, The Bengal Club in Calcutta, Madras Club,  Gymkhana Club in the capital - all these and many more are wonderfully planned and built on a scale that brings to mind the grand sense of space the British so valued. To say nothing of the dizzying architectural excellence so closely associated with colonialism. It is a legacy which Indians now enjoy, and why not? Should we go around razing all these institutions to the ground? Should Edwin Lutyens' magnificent contributions to New Delhi's architectural grandeur be reduced to ashes? Should the Gateway of India in Mumbai be brought down if some nutcase thinks it's an undesirable hangover of British rule?  Purely rhetorical questions.

One cannot rewrite history, though God knows, governments all over the world futilely attempt to do it. History is history. What happened, happened. Rewriting history books has become a plaything for many state and central governments in the world, including India, but it does little credit to those attempting to script it. This is particularly true of fundamentalist regimes and banana republics but, surely, the world's largest democracy can display a more sophisticated approach to how we, as a nation, should respect and cherish what is beautiful and resplendent, irrespective of who built it.

The Indian subcontinent has been colonised for centuries, and its consequences, for good and bad, is a matter of permanent record. India's own idea of nationhood has been nurtured and built, amidst turmoil and triumph, since the British left our shores in 1947. That’s barely 70 years as a free and vibrant India, a blink of an eye in historical terms. Surely, over the next century, India’s own personality will emerge and leave an indelible imprint across cultural and social spectrums, to universal approbation.

It would be a wonderful gesture if the tourism department of the government of Uttar Pradesh calmly reviews its marketing strategy, and decides to bring the Taj Mahal, presently conspicuously absent, back into its promotional vehicles. It will reflect maturity and farsightedness, one the nation as a whole will applaud. The Chief Minister's recent trek to Agra may just be that first small step.