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Taj Mahal Closed to Tourists
When I was in India, the only time I ever felt even a little bit unsafe was in Agra, on our way to see the Taj Mahal. We had just heard on the news that morning that Saddam Hussein had been hung, and the citizens of Agra, many of whom are Muslim, were reacting to the news as we pulled into town."What's going on over there there?" I asked our local fixer, pointing at a large gathering of people. "Some sort of festival?"
The scene was chaotic, but having been in India for a few weeks at this point, I knew that "chaotic" was a daily thing, and rarely a sign of danger. "They are burning an effigy of Mr. Bush," he replied nonchalantly, as if burning an effigy of the President of the United States was a regular thing in Agra. Maybe it was. Even then -- being the only white person within rock-throwing distance -- I felt relatively little danger. We drove on and watched the sun set behind the Taj Mahal.
By the next day we were out of Agra and onto Jaipur, but the news that night told me that a small-scale riot had broken out in Agra and a tourist van had been attacked. I gasped when they showed the footage, because the van on the television looked exactly like ours, but this one had shattered windows and screaming tourists fleeing from it.
It came with little surprise today that I read the Taj Mahal has been closed to tourists. Apparently four members of the Indian Muslim community were hit by a lorry (large truck) after returning from "Shab-e-Barat or the 'night of forgiveness or atonement,' when Muslims pray for the dead," and an angry crowd responded, according to Reuters. No word on how long it will be closed, but a curfew is in effect for many parts of the city.
(Thanks, Scott!)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jaylan Burstyn Aug 30th 2007 10:45PM
There was a time when travel in a Muslim country was not dangerous. We knew they didn't particularly like Westerners, but they were'nt ready to stone us as they are now.
I remember going to Morocco and feeling very comfortable there. However, I did wear the local attire in order to draw as little attention to myself as possible. I fit in as a local as I spoke almost fluent Arabic. I would be afraid to go there now though I have friends there. It's just not as safe to be an american in those countries now as it once was.
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pascual Aug 31st 2007 8:36AM
I disagree I was recently in moroco and people were friendly and relatively safe. They need tourists however I agree that the general tendency among muslims is to to get united. I also have friends and they only watch Alyazeera in Tv and dance and celebrate every time something bad is said about americans. They definitely hate Americans and Europeans and by heart they support their terrorists.
alfred Aug 31st 2007 8:31AM
I also traveled to Morocco and also have friends there they said that the Clinton family are very close friends with the king of Morocco, they said that they goes there often on vacation with the king in his Yacht and that the Moroccan people hoped that the king should marry Chelsea. Isn't that funny????