Azam Khan terms building of Taj Mahal 'unjustified'

MUZAFFARNAGAR: Terming the money spent on building the Taj Mahal as "unjustified", Uttar Pradesh's Urban Development minister Azam Khan said that he would have led the mob had they decided to bring it down.

The minister said that the riots after the Babri Masjid demolition saddened him, but he would have led mob if they decided to bring down the 17th century white marble wonder, created by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in the memory of his beloved.

"Had people decided to demolish the Taj Mahal instead of the Babri mosque, I would have led them," Azam Khan, who was here to distribute cheques to beneficiaries of different government schemes said on Sunday.

Khan, known to be a close confidant of SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, apparently comparing the wonder with to the monuments and statues built by former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati said, "Shah Jahan had no right to squander crores of public funds in the memory of his wife and sweetheart".