Ahh Taj: Agra tourism suffers post misleading international news, right-wing ruckus

In the recent past, Taj Mahal received bad publicity; courtesy irresponsible activities of right-wing organisations.

If these weren't enough to bring down the grand image of the monument, then international media is also not far behind. The collective variance has swung a punch in the face of the tourism in Agra.

Soon after the damage, politics tried to come to the rescue as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath went for damage control following the rhetoric spewed by Hindu organisations tarnishing the splendour of Taj Mahal.

PM and UP CM were quick to rebuild the grandeur of the monument by praising it, which became the need of the hour post the never ending right-wing propaganda on the monument.

Jumping on the bandwagon, a national television channel of the Slovenian Republic has published an article on its website entitled "The Hindu Nationalists Turn Their Back To Taj Mahal" alleging that the Uttar Pradesh government has ended all budgetary allocations for Taj Mahal's upkeep and maintenance.

The aforementioned news article states that the UP government plans to end all budgetary allocations for the upkeep of Taj Mahal in 2018 and it has already removed the monument from the "Tourist Brochure of UP".

The dissemination of misinformation is spreading like a wildfire as several international portals are spinning the news their ways.

Reacting to this article, the Indian ambassador to Slovenia has sought more information on this issue from the UP Tourism Department. Deputy Director UP Tourism -- Dinesh Kumar -- requested factual information on the same subject from the Archaeological Survey of India and the Agra Development Authority, who maintain the inner and outer parts of Taj Mahal so that the Slovenian media could be informed of the actual facts.

Talking to India Today, Agra Tourist Welfare Chamber Secretary Vishal Sharma said that the Slovenian media appears to have been misled into believing that the upkeep of Taj Mahal is handled by the UP government, whereas it is maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India, which is a department of the Centre.

He said that it won't be the first time when a section of the European media has published such fake news blatantly about Taj Mahal.

It was the European media that painted Taj Mahal in green on their TV channels when it was briefly infested by insects whose feces turned small parts of the backside of Taj Mahal green.

Sharma said that this negative publicity due to incorrect reporting of the facts affects tourism in Agra.

This year too, the negative publicity generated initially by the debate on Taj Mahal's alleged origins as a Shiva Temple, and then the UP CM and other BJP leaders' statements against the monument played a big role in turning away a significant portion of the international tourists.

He expressed hope that now with the BJP itself mellowing down the rhetoric on Taj Mahal, the remaining tourism season till February will be better.