Muslims claim ownership of Taj Mahal

By Justin Huggler in Delhi16 March 2005http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/story.jsp?story=620539The Indian state is facing an extraordinary legalchallenge to its ownership of the country's mostfamous national monument, the Taj Mahal. And the claimof ownership comes from the minority that has arguablyfaced the most discrimination and mistreatment inrecent decades: Muslims.The Taj Mahal was built by the Muslim Mughal EmperorShah Jahan as a mausoleum for his beloved wife MumtazMahal, over whose death he was inconsolable. As wellas her tomb, the Taj complex includes a mosque.The ownership claim comes from the Sunni Waqf Board, aMuslim trust. The Waqf claims it has a legal title tothe Taj because the Indian government granted itownership of all Muslim tombs and graveyards in thestate of Uttar Pradesh, where the Taj is located.Since the Waqf has quasi-judicial powers, it isthreatening to make a ruling and seize ownership ofthe Taj if the Archaeological Survey of India and thecentral government do not reply to its claim by theend of March.The Taj is considered by many to be the world'sgreatest architectural masterpiece. It is almostcertainly the world's most famous monument to love.Rabindranath Tagore, the Bengali poet, called it a"teardrop on the face of eternity".But its beauty and status as a religious site have notmade it immune to the rivalries of the region. In2002, when India and Pakistan nearly went to war, theTaj was covered in camouflaged netting, supposedly toprotect it from a Pakistani air raid - though thatwould have meant officially Islamic Pakistan bombing amosque.This time the threat to the Taj is not so dire. Itseems that what is really at stake are the lucrativegate receipts from the hordes of foreign tourists whocome to see the Taj every year. The Waqf says if itsclaim is successful, it plans to commandeer 7 per centof ticket sales.But it is unlikely the Waqf will get the Taj. This isone piece of Islamic India even the most diehard Hinduextremists will not part with in a hurry.