‘Demolish Taj Mahal’: Assam BJP MLA wants enquiry on Shah Jahan-Mumtaz love

'If Taj Mahal was really a symbol of love then why did Shah Jahan marry three more times after Mumtaz’s death,' he asked

Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Rupjyoti Kurmi triggered a row when he called for the demolition of the Taj Mahal and Qutub Minar and demanded that a temple be constructed in their stead.

Kurmi, an MLA from Mariani, Assam, could be seen giving this statement in a clip uploaded by Time8News on Tuesday. He also said that he was ready to donate one year’s salary for the project.

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In another statement to ANI, Kurmi continued his attack on one of India’s most famous tourist attractions, saying that the monument should not be described as a symbol of love.

“Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal in memory of her fourth wife. If it was really a symbol of love then why did Shah Jahan marry three more times after Mumtaz’s death,” Kurmi asked.

Kurmi went on to demand an investigation to find whether the Mughal King really loved his wife or not.

Putting his weight behind the recent changes in the NCERT books where chapters on the Mughal Empire have been eliminated, Kurmi said, “We don’t want to teach small kids that the Mughal ruler Jahangir married 20 times, while Shah Jahan made a ‘symbol of love’ despite marrying four times”. He added, “We don’t want to give such information to the coming generations. Now that NCERT has decided to cut out content on Mughals… we support it.”

National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) recently revised its books, including the class 12 History book by removing the chapters on the Mughal empire. The change will be applicable to all the schools that follow NCERT across the country.

From Class 12, chapters related to 'Kings and Chronicles; the Mughal Courts (C. 16th and 17th centuries)' have been removed from the History book 'Themes of Indian History-Part 2'.

Some texts on Mahatma Gandhi, Hindu-Muslim unity, and RSS ban have also been dropped from class 12 textbooks.

“After the pandemic, it was realised globally that the load of education has to be cut down, because it was agonising and painful for children, parents and teachers. Due to the learning loss and the loss of time, we needed to find ways to make up for these losses, and at National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), we standardised the process,” NCERT director Dinesh Prasad Saklani told DH on the controversial changes in the textbooks.