Taj Mahal closed

[BATMAN]

Taj Mahal closed to tourists after India riots
International News

Reuters

LUCKNOW: Police closed the Taj Mahal and placed parts of Agra city under curfew on Wednesday after Indian Muslims burned trucks and battled police to protest the deaths of four community members hit by a lorry.

The accident occurred around dawn in Agra when the men were returning after marking "Shab-e-Barat".

Angry crowds set fire to 11 trucks, including the one involved in the accident, said state police officer Brij Lal.

"With curfew imposed in six police circles of Agra, the area in and around Taj Mahal is also completely shut to public as a precautionary measure," Lal said.

Television footage showed smoke billowing over one neighbourhood, young Muslims clashing with police and a line of trucks burning fiercely. "They are hurling bricks at police sent to stop the violence in one area but the situation is coming under control as our people are on the job," Lal added. Schools and colleges were ordered shut in the crowded city as police tried to quell the violence, officials said.

The Taj Mahal was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his wife Mumtaz Mahal. Attracting around 20,000 visitors every day, the monument was completed in 1648 after 17 years of construction by 20,000 workers.

 

[BATMAN]

Taj Mahal closed after Agra clash

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Taj Mahal closed after Agra clash

Riot footage
The Taj Mahal, India's famous monument to love, has re-opened after being briefly closed to tourists when rioting broke out in the city of Agra.
The east gate of the monument re-opened late on Wednesday before a curfew was imposed in parts of the city.

The violence started after a lorry crushed to death four Muslim men participating in a religious festival.
One man was killed and at least 50 policemen injured in the clashes. Dozens of vehicles were set on fire.

Officials say the situation is now improving quickly, and there has been no violence since the curfew began.

The Taj Mahal, a memorial to the wife of Mughal-era ruler Shahjahan, attracts millions of tourists from all over the world.

The men killed in Wednesday morning's accident were all Muslims, who were returning after participating in the festival of Shab-e Barat.

The Uttar Pradesh Principal Home Secretary, JN Chamber, said that officials who allowed trucks to travel on the busy road where the men was killed - in violation of traffic restrictions - will be punished.

Mr Chamber also said an inquiry would be conducted into the incident.

'Berserk'

"A curfew has been imposed in six areas of the city, including in Tajganj [the area around the Taj Mahal]," senior district administration official, Sita Ram Meena, told the BBC.

Angry residents in the Nai Mandi area of the city went "berserk" after the morning accident, the Associated Press news agency quoted state police chief Vikram Singh as saying.

According to reports, mobs set a dozen lorries on fire and clashed with police.

One man was killed and two others were injured when police opened fire on protesters.

During Shab-e Barat [the night of forgiveness and atonement], Muslims visit the graveyards and pray for their dead.

 

[joey]

yeah lorry crushed 4 guys, and all of a sudden mobs started pouring in, burns buses, buildings houses, nothing unnatural; its the way illiterate peoples of subcontinent behaves.

Unfortunately in a late night interview a guy named alimuddin gave the interview, he has nothing to do with blast yet his whole small industry got burnt by the mob.

what is worrying is normal people has very little to do in these aspects but as soon as any issue starts peoples starts pouring in from nowhere, and its like a hall show you will literally see peoples wearing sun glasses, jeans pelting stones and dancing around, ultimately peoples who have nothing to do with this suffers.