AMU student demands construction of Ram temple in campus

Aligarh: A student of the Aligarh Muslim University has demanded the construction of a Saraswati Temple inside the AMU campus. Ajay Singh, an LLM student at the AMU, has written a letter to the AMU Vice Chancellor regarding the same. Notably, Ajay Singh is the grandson of Aligarh BJP MLA Dalveer Singh.

Meanwhile, National Monitoring Committee for Minorities Education member Dr Manvendra Pratap Singh has extended support to the student’s demand.

"There are at least 6,000 Hindu students in the university, but there is not a single temple, while there are mosques in almost every hostel. What kind of secularism is this?" he said.

"When there can be temples in Arab countries, which are 100 per cent Muslim countries, why can't there be one here in AMU? I want to ask this question to all the secular people, to the Congress as well, who preach these talks but have never talked about a



temple in AMU. The university's secularity will only be accepted when there are temples, mosques, gurudwaras, etc, side-by-side," Pratap added.

However, Faizul Hasan, the ex-AMU students' union president, said he was not in favour of a temple inside the varsity. He further recalled a 2015 Supreme Court's verdict, which prohibited the construction or demolition of any religious building in central universities or educational institutions.

"In 2015, the Supreme Court had ruled that any new religious building, like temples, mosques, churches, etc, will not be constructed in central universities or educational institutions. The court also said that any existing temple or mosque will not be demolished," said Hasan.

He further said even if the whole university comes out in support of the demand, a temple will not be constructed within the AMU campus because of the SC’s verdict.