Joining the league of those making controversial statements on the Taj Mahal, Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij on Friday termed the marble monument as a “beautiful graveyard”. “Taj Mahal ek khoobsurat kabristan hai (Taj Mahal is a beautiful graveyard),” the minister for health and sports in the BJP government in Haryana tweeted. Vij has courted controversy several times in the past with his remarks. A political slugfest has erupted after BJP MLA Sangeet Som questioned the Taj Mahal’s place in history, saying it was built by an emperor who imprisoned his father and targeted Hindus. Interestingly, Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, who built the Taj Mahal in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, was the one who was imprisoned till the end of his days by his son Aurangzeb.
