Guwahati: Faizul Hasan Qadri, who was better known as the person who built the mini Taj Mahal in the memory of his late wife, dies in a road accident in Bulandshahr late Thursday night. Qadri, at the time of his death, was 83-years-old.
The retired postmaster from Kaser Kalan in western Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr district succumbed to injuries after a road accident. As reported by his family members, Qadri breathed his last at a private hospital in Aligarh. Late Qadri’s nephew states, “He was taking a walk outside his house around 10.30pm on Thursday when some unidentified vehicle hit him. He was lying injured and I received information around 1 am. I rushed him to a local hospital and later to Aligarh where he died around 11 am on Friday. He got injured two years back as well after he had fallen from his bicycle and thereafter used a walker most of the time.”
Qadri, an ordinary man with a simple living would have not been able to shot to fame unless he would have not built a replica of the Taj Mahal, but in a miniature form. Moreover, his generosity too is much talked about for he had donated his land for a government girl’s school, which is now fully constructed and is adjacent to the structure. Qadri, after completing the Taj Mahal replica had said that he built the structure in memory of his late wife.
Tajamulli Begum, Qadri’s wife, had died of throat cancer in December 2011. The couple, married in 1953, did not have any children. Qadri’s love for his late wife had made his start the construction of a replica of the Taj Mahal which is built covering the grave of his deceased wife. Qadri had even kept a certain space along the grave of his wife as he also wished to be buried alongside his wife, after death. But due to financial constraints, Qadri could not complete the project and it remained half-constructed. Later, in August 2015, Qadri was called by former UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav to Lucknow and offered to help him with financial assistance for completing the structure. But Qadri turned down the proposal. His nephew added, “He had instead requested for the construction of a government-run girls’ inter college for which he later donated his four bighas of land. The school is now completed. He had saved nearly Rs 2 lakh and was about to go with me to Jaipur for purchasing marble stone which he wanted to be studded to his mini Taj Mahal to make it look like the original one in Agra.”
Despite the lack of finances, Qadri was determined to complete the structure and started saving money. He had even asked his nephew to go along with him to Rajasthan for purchasing marble stones for the Taj Mahal. As Qadri’s death left the dream project incomplete, his nephew is now determined to fulfil his uncle’s wishes.
Also read: National News