BJP MLA in Assam calls on PM Modi to demolish Taj Mahal, Qutub Minar

Guwahati: A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator from Assam on Tuesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to destroy structures like the Taj Mahal and Qutub Minar as the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) revised its books for various classes, including the Class 12 History textbook by omitting the chapters on the Mughal empire.

"I urge the Prime Minister to immediately demolish the Taj Mahal and Qutub Minar. In place of these two monuments, the world's most beautiful temples should be built. The architecture of those two temples should be such that no other monuments could be even closer to them," the legislator said.

Kurmi further said that he is ready to donate at least his one-and-a-half year's salary for the construction of the temples.

The latest change would apply to all the schools in the country that follow the syllabus of the NCERT.

The NCERT said that the changes will be applicable from the current academic session -- 2023-2024.

Notably, in the latest changes in the Class 12 syllabus, the chapters related to the Mughal Empire were omitted from History textbooks by NCERT, while a few poems and paragraphs were also removed from the Hindi book.

The "Themes of Indian History-Part II" textbook's chapters on the Mughal Court, monarchs, and their history have been eliminated from the updated curriculum.

It is to be mentioned that Rupjyoti Kurmi, four-time MLA and once an ardent critic of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, switched from the Congress to the BJP in June 2021.

He earlier won the Mariani assembly seat on a Congress ticket.

After joining the BJP, Kurmi was re-elected to the Assembly from the same constituency.

With inputs from IANS