'Taj Mahal is still standing only because it's globally renowned' says SP's Azam Khan

NEW DELHI: Following comments by some BJP leaders that the Taj Mahal doesn't represent Indian culture, Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Azam Khan said that "he firmly believes" the Agra monument would have been long destroyed - like the Babri Masjid was - but wasn't, only because it has international attention on it.

Khan's comments came following news of BJP MP Vinay Katiyar's comment that the Taj was a Shiva temple that was destroyed by the Mughals. Katiyar's comments, in turn, came two days after a party colleague of his said the Taj doesn't represent Indian heritage and culture.

"If the Babri Masjid could be destroyed with dynamite because people believe it is a temple, then no place of worship in the country is safe," said Khan, referring to the December 6, 1992 destruction of the 16th century mosque built on Mughal emperor Babar's orders.

Khan was referring to the fact that those who destroyed the mosque believed the birth place of Rama was located on the spot where it stood.

The SP leader, once a minister in the Uttar Pradesh government, said that the atmosphere at the time the Masjid was destroyed was created long before the day it was reduced to rubble. He was hinting that recent statements about the Taj Mahal might result in the same atmosphere as that in the months before December 6, 1992.

"There was at that time a high court and Supreme Court stay on the case to do with the temple-mosque issue...Still the mosque was destroyed. I firmly believe that the Taj Mahal too was set to meet that same fate....But because there is so much international attention on it, it still stands," said Khan.