Land belonged to us: BJP MP on Taj Mahal land
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Jaipur: BJP MP Diya Kumari on Wednesday claimed that she had records, which showed that the land on which the Taj Mahal was built was acquired by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, and that it originally belonged to Jaipur's ruler Jai Singh.
A petition is already filed with the Allahabad High Court that asks for a fact-finding inquiry into the "history" of the Taj Mahal and opening the doors of 22 of its rooms. Supporting this petition, Kumari a member of the erstwhile Jaipur royal family said, "It should be investigated what was there before the monument was built and people have the right to know. There are records available with the Jaipur family and it would provide these, if required".
"Compensation was given in lieu of the land but how much was it, whether it was accepted or not, I cannot say this because I have not studied the records which are there in our 'pothikhana'. But the land belonged to our family and Shah Jahan had acquired it," she told reporters.
"Since there was no judiciary, no appeal could have been made at that time. Things will be clear only after examining the records," the BJP leader said.
Referring to the petition, she said that it was a valid point that doors of its "22 rooms should be opened and an investigation should be done to see "the truth, whatever it is".
"People should know why the rooms are locked there. There could have been anything before the Taj Mahal, may be a temple. People have the right to know what was there originally before the 'maqbara'," Ms Kumari said.
According to NDTV, she has allso said that she has not studied the actual records that existed and would be able to reach a conclusion only after examining them.
"What I am saying is on behalf of what I have learnt and heard. I have not studied the records. We can provide the records to the court if necessary. Only after examining the records, we can reach a conclusion," Ms Kumari said.
The petition was filed by Rajneesh Singh, the media in-charge of the BJP's Ayodhya unit on Saturday with the registry of the Lucknow bench of the high court. The petition would come up before the court for a hearing after it is passed by the registry.