LUCKNOW: An Indian Muslim body laid claim on Wednesday to the world’s most famous monument to love, the Taj Mahal, sparking angry reactions from Hindu groups. The Sunni Waqf Board, asked by a state court to define if it is a religious structure, claimed ownership of the architectural wonder, saying since it housed Muslim graves, the Taj belonged to it.

The structure in Agra in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh contains the tombs of Shah Jahan and his queen along with other tombs.

“It has been proved that the Taj Mahal is used as a religious building and prayers held on Fridays are in favour of the verdict,” said the Board’s chief in Uttar Pradesh Hafiz Usman.

“And so the Taj Mahal and its connected mosques and tombs would be now registered as Waqf property,” he said.

Usman, however, did not revive the Board’s long-standing demand for a seven-percent cut of around three million dollars the Taj draws from its two million annual visitors.

The magnificent white-marbelled, 17th-century Taj Mahal built by the emperor as a tomb for his beloved queen, Mumtaz Mahal, is owned and managed by the Archaeological Survey of India as a national monument.

The ASI warned the Sunni Board’s decision could blunt tourism in the town of Agra, where the Taj is located, and lead to mismanagement of the monument, which is adorned by four slender minarets.

The Hindu nationalist BJP party, meanwhile, described the Board’s claims as “absurd” and said it would contest the decision in court.

“This absurd decision of the Waqf Board defies the very basics of law that you cannot be a judge in your own cause,” said Kesari Nath Tripathi, president of the party in Uttar Pradesh.

Vinay Katyar, a firebrand BJP leader, too reacted angrily.

“This is absolutely wrong as I would approach courts and challenge it,” he said, adding that New Delhi must intervene to resolve the dispute.—AFP