December 16, 2008

Can you copyright a monument?

India thinks you can and is investigating whether it has a case against its neighbor Bangladesh. A Bangladeshi film director has spent $58 million to build an exact replica of the Taj Mahal, the beautiful white marble monument built by Shah Jahan to honor his dead wife. It is one of the world's most famous buildings and for many the ultimate symbol of love and grief.

Bangladeshis apparently can't afford to travel to the real Taj so one has been built for them in the capital city of Dhaka.

But Indian officials are furious. "You can't just go around copying historical monuments," one Indian politician is quoted as saying.

I'm curious to know, with the wrenching poverty that has characterized Bangladesh for most of my life, what else could have been accomplished with $58 million, and is a facsimile of the Taj Mahal really what the people there need?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

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