On Thursday (16th November), a tourist from West Bengal was barred from performing ‘namaz’ in the Taj Mahal’s garden. The incident came to the notice after the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel on duty spotted a visitor laying out his prayer mat in the garden.
The CISF personnel intervened and stopped the tourist from offering Namaz within the premises. As per the order of the Supreme Court of India, offering Namaz is not allowed at the ASI site, even at the Shahi mosque in the Taj Mahal premises except on Fridays.
Senior conservation assistant for the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Prince Vajpayee commented on the issue and said that the video of the incident was verified and confirmed. “A video surfaced on Thursday and upon verification, it was confirmed that a tourist from West Bengal had unfurled his prayer mat in the Taj Mahal garden, preparing for ‘namaz.’ The CISF personnel promptly intervened,” he added.
The tourist was led to the control room, where he expressed surprise at the prohibition on performing ‘namaz’ at the Taj Mahal. He was then allowed to continue his visit to Agra after submitting a written apology. Vajpayee clarified that Namaz was not performed and that the man later adhered to the rules.
4 people were arrested in 2022 for offering Namaz on the Taj Mahal premise
Notably, this is not the first time a man has been caught offering Namaz on the Taj Mahal premises after the ASI banned it in the year 2018, allowing only locals to perform it on Fridays. On 26th May 2022, a similar incident was reported where 4 individuals were arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Police for offering Namaz in the Taj Mahal premises on a non-Friday. All the accused had been booked under section 153 of the Indian Penal Code.
Uttar Pradesh | Four people were arrested for offering namaz at the mosque in Taj Mahal premises. Three of them are from Hyderabad and one is from Azamgarh. They have been booked under section 153 of IPC. They have been presented in the court: Vikas Kumar, SP City Agra pic.twitter.com/WTU30EjzcY
— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) May 26, 2022
The ASI Agra Circle, Raj Kumar Patel was then quoted as saying that even on Fridays only residents of the Tajganj locality, where the mausoleum is located, are allowed to pray between 12 pm and 2 pm.
SC banned prayers by outsiders, allowed locals only on Fridays
It is important to note that the Supreme Court of India in the year 2018 refused to allow prayers by outsiders at the mosque on the premises of the Taj Mahal, maintaining that the monument’s preservation was paramount.
Supreme Court refuses to allow offering of Namaz at Taj Mahal. The Court says the historic Taj Mahal is one of the seven wonders of the world, so it should be kept in mind that no Namaz will be offered there. There are other places where one can do that. pic.twitter.com/vYQ3xHNiwy
— ANI (@ANI) July 9, 2018
The three-judge bench of the apex court headed by the Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, in its judgment, had stressed that the Taj Mahal must be preserved as it is one of the seven wonders of the world. It further added that there was no need to conduct prayers within the complex of the Taj Mahal.
Also, in January 2018, the district administration had ordered that people should produce valid ID proof showing that they were residents of Agra, before entering the complex to offer Namaz. The administration barred outsiders from entering the complex, which remains closed to tourists every Friday.
ASI banned daily Namaz at the Taj Mahal as per SC orders
Months after the judgement by SC, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in December 2018 banned the offering of Namaz at the Taj Mahal on all days except Fridays. Superintending Archaeologist, ASI (Agra circle) had said, “Namaz can only be offered on Fridays and that, too, by local residents only.”
Meanwhile, the President of the Taj Mahal Intezamia Committee, Syed Ibrahim Hussain Zaidi blamed the “Anti-Muslim” mindset of the central and state governments for the decision.
