SYED AFFAN
“Hindutva virodhi va shri ram virodhi logon, vicharon, athva partiyon ko apne gaon, samaj, rajya, va rashtra se nikaal kar bahar kar do” (Remove people, thoughts and parties who oppose Hindutva and Ram from your village, community, state and country.)
“This promise and oath to every Hindu: Shri Ram bhakton, samast sanataniyon, ab ki baar Shri Ram ke naam par aur Shri Ram ke dham par na to aanch aane denge aur na kisi dushman ki aankh uthne denge chahe hame marna pade chahe hame maarna pade” (Shri Ram devotees, all Sanatanis, from now on, we will not let any harm come to the name of Shri Ram or the glory of Shri Ram, nor will we allow any enemy raise his eyes, even if we have to die or to kill).
“Shri Ram ka prachar karo, Ram rajya ka vistar karo” (Preach the name of Shri Ram, advocate the cause of Ram Rajya.)
“Modi ji Yogi ji ko maan do samman do. Inhe vote karo support karo. Jai Shri Ram” (Respect Modi ji and Yog ji. Vote for them, support them. Jai Shri Ram.)
These messages were written on the doors and walls of the Aligarh-New Delhi 04414, an electric passenger train that runs every day. It leaves Aligarh at 6:20 in the morning and returns at 6:20 in the evening.
I saw them when I returned to Delhi from Aligarh on 29 July after gathering information for my research dissertation on the lock industry in Aligarh and the marginalised labour class.
I’m pursuing a Bachelor's in humanities and social sciences at Delhi University. I’m also a research intern under the Student Internship Scheme at the Cluster Innovation Centre on the north campus.
A ticket for one of the unreserved wooden seats on train number 04414 costs Rs 75. The passengers are regular commuters working in cement factories, construction sites, industrial facilities, and food processing units in Delhi and the national capital region. Others work as assistants and office staff at different companies.
The train makes 24 stops, including Danwar, Khurja, Dadri, Ghaziabad, Sahibabad, and Anand Vihar, in three hours and 15 minutes and is usually on time.
After I boarded from Aligarh on 29 July and sat down, I could hear people singing bhajans and chanting religious verses for about half an hour, after which they distributed prasad to the entire compartment.
They said, “Jo sanatani hai wo desh premi hai," (If you are a sanatani, then you love the country) at regular intervals. “Sanatani aur desh ke jawano me antar nahi hona chahiye,” (There should be no difference between a soldier and a sanatani) said one man. At what appeared to be a religious gathering followed by a “sabha” (meeting) of about 20 people, there was a discussion on “Hindutva”, a Hindu right-wing ideology. Those attending spoke about how they enforced the ideology in their respective localities.
They listed some individuals who were actively involved in organising meetings and events to reach out to people and mobilise support.
They played a video on a phone shared on a social media platform, after which a discussion ensued about India’s relationship with Pakistan.
Someone said, “BJP ne to CAA-NRC ka bhi kuch nhi kia, kaye ki Hindutva party hai” (BJP didn’t even do anything about CAA-NRC, what sort of a Hindutva party is it?)
They spoke of the BJP government's approach towards "Bangladeshi infiltrators" and its treatment of minorities, saying it was too “lenient and empathetic”, particularly in comparison to the situation of Hindu minorities “facing oppression” in Pakistan. It was suggested that the BJP take a firm stance to safeguard minorities from neighbouring countries in line with its claims of being a "Hindutva” party.
Others said that the BJP must stand to its claims of making India a “Hindu Rashtra”.
When prasad was distributed at the end, they said, “Jo sanatani hai wo desh premi hai” (whoever is a sanatani is a nationalist).
I have observed these kinds of meetings twice in person, and other passengers have told me that they happen quite often in different compartments of the Aligarh-New Delhi train.
I have seen pamphlets with slogans like "Hindu, Hindutva, Hindustan," compartment details, and the meeting date posted on the seats and the train walls.
I saw a young man at the meeting shout “mulle” two times; the slur was intended for a Muslim man sitting 5 m away within earshot. The others laughed each time. The young man, who appeared to be in his early thirties, smiled in the face of the slurs.
When he moved away, I went and spoke with him. I discovered that his name was Sauleh, and he worked at an oil mill in Dadri and lived in Khurja, 50 km from Aligarh.
“I can’t escape from their eyes and be safe,” said Sauleh. “Where else can I go if I’m not even safe on a train?”
“A few Muslims catch another train whenever we know that a meeting is going to take place, but others, including me, can’t do so because we have to reach our workplaces early in the morning,” he said.
When leaving the train at Dadri, Sauleh said, “If you face it long enough, you get used to it. When you are already defeated, you can’t oppose them.”
(Syed Affan is a writer and freelance journalist based in Delhi.)
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