National Monuments Authority (NMA) Chairman and BJP leader Tarun Vijaꦗy on Thursday said the Ganesha idols ♛placed "disrespectfully" in the Qutub Minar complex should either be removed or installed "respectfully".
The former MP said he had raised the issue with the Archaeological Survey of India (AS🧸I) more than a year ago, but is yet to receive a response to his letter.
"The idols are currently placed at a most disrespectful place, upside down at the feet level of the visitors. The idols should either be removed or placed respect🍰fully inside the Qutub complex," he told PTI.
In a tweet, Vijay also sought to know what happened to the 27 temples tha♐t were believed to be located inside the complex.
"...why Ganesha moorti was put upside down to humiliate Hindus. There are Tirthankars, Yamun😼a, Dashavatar, Krishna's birth and Navagraha🍌 moortis never shown to visitors," he said in the tweet.
The BJP leader also said correcting such wro✃ngs is a way to "fight against colonialism".
Two idols of Ganesha -- "Ulta Ganesh" and ౠ"Ganesha in cage" -- are located in the compound of the 12th-century monument, wh💛ich was designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1993.
The "Ulta Ganesh" (upside down) is p♔art of the south-facing wall of the Quwwat Ul Islam mosque in the complex. The other idol, enclosed in an iron cage, is close to the ground level and is part of the same mosque.
&qღuot;What happened is cultural geno𓂃cide and it has to be reversed," Vijay said. The ASI, which is the custodian of the monument, is yet to respond on the issue.
