VHP Members Protest at Taj, Say Turnstile Gates Block Temple Path

Protestors removed a part of the turnstile gates, as it was supposedly blocking the path to a ‘400-year-old’ temple.

File image of the Taj Mahal. Image used for representational purpose. 

(Photo: iStock)

Several activists from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) protested outside the Western gate of the Taj Mahal in Agra on Sunday, 10 June, removing a part of the turnstile gates that were being installed.

The right-wing activists were reportedly protesting against the installation of the turnstile gates at the entrance as it allegedly “blocked the entrance to a 400-year-old temple.”

A case has been registered against 30 people, including five people who were named, based on a complaint lodged by a member of the Archaeological Survey of India.

According to the complaint filed by Tarun Dutt Sharma, who is a conservation assistant at the ASI, the crowd included Ravi Dubey, Mohit Sharma, Niranjan Pathak, Madan Verma and Gulla, who were booked under sections of Public Property Damage Prevention Act, among others. The complaint has been filed at the Tajganj police station, and a search is to be conducted for the accused.

A report in the Hindustan Times states that the right-wing activists were protesting the installation of the turnstile gates at the west entrance as it blocked the passage to the Siddeshewar Mahadev temple at Basai Ghat.

Speaking to the daily, Dubey, who is also a senior office-bearer of the VHP, said:

The temple is 400 years old and has been in existence prior to Taj Mahal. So there is no logic in blocking passage to the temple. But ASI officials did not heed to our requests.

However, an official from the Taj security told the daily that an alternative passage had been made so as to access the temple, but the protesters had continued to raise their demand for the old passage.

Meanwhile, Dubey added that the members from the VHP would also meet the district magistrate to press for their demand.