An activist of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist organisation, recently made an astounding claim at a TV show that the Taj Mahal was an old Hindu temple.
It happened at a show hosted by senior journalist Vikram Chandra where the panelists, along with the audience broke into laughter.
The host holds his head in his hands as in disbelief after the RSS man went on to say that not only the Taj Mahal but Delhi's Red Fort and Jamaia Masjid were also not built by Muslims.
Desh Ratan Nigam blatantly refused to acknowledge Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan as the man who ordered construction of the Taj Mahal.
"Taj Mahal is a national icon, but i still believe it was not built by Shahjahan," he said while answering a question.
The RSS man also claimed that iconic Red Fort and Delhi’s Jama Masjid were once Hindu temples.
“Taj Mahal was built in 1000 AD. It can be proved. There are symbols of Hinduism all over the place. Red Fort was built by Tomar dynasty,” said he.
The RSS asserts that ancestors of all people of Indian origin - including 172 million Muslims - were Hindu and that they must accept their common ancestry as part of Bharat Mata, or Mother India.
Indian Priem Minister Modi has been a member of the RSS since childhood.
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