Agra Court Faces Challenge: Right-Wing Group Petitions Against Taj Mahal Urs Observance

The Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha, a right-wing organization, has filed a petition in an Agra court seeking a prohibitory injunction against the observance of the annual 'Urs' at the Taj Mahal. The group also contests the free entry for 'Urs' attendees inside the iconic monument.

The court has accepted the petition and scheduled a hearing for March 4. This year's three-day 'Urs' event is set to occur from February 6 to February 8, marking the death anniversary of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, who commissioned the construction of the Taj Mahal in 1653 on the banks of the Yamuna River.

According to the petitioner's counsel, Anil Kumar Tiwari, the Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha, represented by its divisional head Meena Diwakar and district president Saurabh Sharma, seeks a permanent prohibitory injunction against the committee organizing the 'Urs.' The petition also raises objections to the free entry granted for the event at the Taj Mahal.

ABHM spokesperson Sanjay Jat contended that the body had filed the petition on the basis of an RTI which revealed that neither the Mughals, nor the British allowed Urs to take place inside the Taj. The petition has been filed on the basis of an RTI filed by a Raj Kishore Raje, an historian of Agra city. In the RTI, he asked ASI who permitted Urs celebration and Namaz in Taj Mahal premises. The ASI replied that neither Mughals, nor the British government or the Government of India have allowed Urs celebration in the Taj Mahal, Sanjay Jat told PTI.

So, on that basis we have filed a petition seeking the prohibitory injunction, stopping the organisers of Shahjahan 'Urs' Celebration Committee, headed by Saiyyad Ibrahim Zaidi, from celebrating the Urs at the Taj Mahal.