IN THE canteen adjoining the Zakir Hussain College of Engineering on the sprawling campus of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), students are milling around during a break in the classes. Hritik, Vivek and Shivam, all MSc students, are having a conversation about upcoming exams over steaming tea. A question on the Ram Temple surprises them. But after some hesitation, the three agree; yes, they approve its upcoming inauguration on January 22.

All three of them Brahmin, they say the event is a matter of faith for millions of Hindus, and nothing to do with politics. “It is a matter of Hindu self-respect,” says one. While Hritik gives the credit for the temple to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vivek interjects: “It is (L K) Advani and (former Uttar Pradesh CM) Kalyan Singh who should get the credit. Modi is merely inaugurating it.”

At another table, where four students of engineering belonging to the Muslim community are sitting, questions regarding the Ram Temple are met with careful reticence.

Their initial reaction is “no problem”, that the temple is being built as per a court order. However, after a few minutes, they open up.

“The politics around it is not good for the country, it is taking away from the real issues,” says Riyaz, who is worried about jobs after finishing his engineering course. “There is no employment.”

The four also question the poor healthcare facilities in the country, the low budget for education — “even the IPL budget is more” – and, especially, the “divisive” politics of the BJP. “What they have done to the country will take years to change even after they are gone,” says one of them.

Ashfaq adds that it is not about holding on to hope. “Maybe awareness is the key, and that cannot come from education alone. It will take time.”

Located roughly at the one-third mark on the road from Delhi to Ayodhya, Aligarh occupies a unique place in the history of the country – as much for shaping Muslim politics pre-Independence, as Muslim nationalism. It may not be central to either now, but home to AMU, Aligarh is a good barometer of how the two sides caught up in a dispute lasting decades are viewing January 22.

At the canteen near the Faculty of Urdu, Obaid, who is doing his PhD, says he is not surprised at the BJP rhetoric around the temple. “All political parties work to stay in power. They think this will help them win polls… It will change only when people stop voting on these issues.”

He hasn’t lost his faith in democracy, Obaid adds. “There is no point in Muslims talking about religion. That is what they (the BJP) want. People should talk about the government’s economic policies, the problems facing the country. Young Muslims must focus on education and break out of poverty.”

A student of the university’s Faculty of Mass Communication, who is at the canteen with three of her friends, regrets that “what should have been a moment of faith has become an assertion of a certain political narrative”.

Her friend explains the Muslim “alienation”. “There may have been a temple at the Babri Masjid site, but it was broken by a king. What is happening now is in a democracy. There is a big difference,” she says. Adds another: “They (the BJP) are now convinced that they can do anything.”



They felt a sense of relief, they add, that the Supreme Court order was in favour of the Hindu side in the Babri title suit case. “Had it been the other way round, there would have been anti-Muslim riots,” say the four in their mid-20s.

Which is why they feel that a “Hindu Rashtra” is almost here. “It will be the moment when Muslims officially become second-class citizens.”

Outside the AMU campus, especially in the Hindu areas of Aligarh, the preparations to celebrate the Ram Temple inauguration day – led by the BJP – are more obvious.

Amit Varshney, 30, a lawyer, says there was never any doubt that the temple would be built. “There is so much evidence. Narendra Modi is lucky it has happened in his time. That it went to court has turned it political, but it is a matter faith for millions of Hindus.”

Tinku Baghel, 28, an OBC vegetable vendor, begins talking about Modi when asked about the Ram Temple. “For the first time, the country has a Hindu neta (leader)… If Modi has said there will be celebrations on January 22, you will see the country celebrating it. He asked people to beat thaalis during Covid, and people did so. The entire Opposition has got together against him, and yet he has won earlier and will win again,” he says.

No, Baghel does not see any discrimination – “The Muslims also get all the benefits” – or any lapse by the government on issues like inflation. “Whatever Modi is doing is best for the country.”

However, not all sections of the Hindu society, especially those that are traditionally not BJP supporters, share this excitement. Praveen Kumar, a Jatav Dalit who works in a wedding band, says it is fine that the temple is being built, but it has nothing to do with him. “I don’t get time to go to my local temple, where will I go to another?”

At Borni village in the district, brothers Sandeep and Sumit Singh, who are in their late 20s and also Jatav Dalits, answer with an emphatic “no” when asked if they would be celebrating on January 22. “We have nothing to do with a religion that does not respect us. We don’t care about the Ram Temple. Nobody in the village does,” says Sandeep.

Sumit proceeds to show a video of Reliance Group owner Mukesh Ambani’s wife Nita addressing a foreign audience, saying, “Ladies and gentlemen! I come from the land of Buddha.”

“In front of the world, they showcase Buddha. Even Modi gifts Buddha statues to foreign dignitaries. But inside the country, it is Ram Ram,” says Sumit.

In downtown Aligarh, 26-year-old construction labourer Satish Singh, a Rajput from Jamalpur village, at work mixing sand and cement, says he would rather not get into things such as the Ram Temple. “Earning a livelihood is so difficult,” says Singh, who points out that he studied till Class 12 and ended up working as a labourer.

He points to his T-shirt, which says “Apna time aayega (My time will come)” and claims he wants to be a rapper (just like Ranveer Singh, who sang those words in Gully Boy). Breaking into a rap about issues that politicians must focus on, he says: “Aadmi nanga aaya tha aur nanga jega. Koi Mandir masjid leke nahi jaane wala. Naukri ki baat karo (A person is born with nothing, will die with nothing; neither temple, nor mosque. Talk about jobs).”