The 2,900 km (1,800 mi) journey from the capital New Delhi to Kanyakumari in the south is one of the longest train journeys in India, passing through cities, villages, forests and deep ravines.
The 22-car Thirukkural Express appears to be a microcosm of India, carrying passengers from different social and religious groups and with wide-ranging ambitions and grievances – from migrants crammed into stifling, plain cars to well-off families reveling in air-conditioned cars. sleeping cabins and all others.
Passengers may also be divided by their politics, an issue that is at the top of their minds as the world’s most populous country holds its mammoth general election, in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeks a rare third term.
India’s economy has grown rapidly under Modi, but the strong-arm tactics he has used to push his Hindu nationalist agenda have sharpened religious divisions in the country of 1.4 billion people – around 200 million of whom are Muslim – and raised fears of a fall. from secular democracy to religious autocracy.
Many passengers who bought the cheapest tickets available are domestic migrants. Sitting on steel benches, standing in doorways or lying on the floor, they traveled between the prosperous capital and interior villages, or to other cities, in search of work.
Pardeep Kumar, a bespectacled man who runs a food stall in New Delhi, said the Modi government is not doing enough for the poor.
Like millions of Indians who survive in the informal economy, Kumar has felt the pain of rising food prices. He appreciates the 5 kg of free cereal he receives every month from the government, as part of a program to alleviate poverty and help large numbers of unemployed people.
But he would prefer the government to focus more on improving education and providing better health care.
“We don’t want free food,” said Kumar, who traveled with his family to his village in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. With better education, he said, “we can then earn on our own and feed our families.”
Kumar is rooting for the opposition party, the Indian National Congress, which he knows faces an uphill battle against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“For 10 years, everyone [BJP] What I did was talk about Hindus and Muslims, temples and mosques,” Kumar said. “And if you raise your voice against this, you will be arrested.”
A few bunks down, Rishipal Chaudhary, thin and goateed, disagreed.
Chaudhary, a train driver who travels to the southern city of Madurai for work, believes Modi has improved the country. For example, he said, crime against women has decreased and schools are getting better teachers and facilities, changes that have benefited his daughter.
“I have loved him since the beginning,” Chaudhary said, an opinion shared by many passengers crowded around him.
As the train crossed the heart of India, passing through Agra, a city famous for the 17th-century Taj Mahal mausoleum, a man walked through the corridors shouting: “Tea! Tea! Get your tea!
A step above basic service, the more comfortable – and only slightly less accessible – sleeping cars were packed with passengers sitting in their lower bunks. Some were perched on top of folding bunks. They discussed politics to pass the time.
“Times have changed. Ten, 20 years ago, we were one, but now we are divided,” said Haji Abdul Subhan, his flowing beard buried in the newspaper he was reading.
Subhan, a 74-year-old former railway employee who is Muslim, was traveling to the central Indian city of Bhopal.
Many Muslims have felt uneasy since Modi took office, and Subhan listed some of the indignities committed by the government: demolishing homes and shops of Muslim activists as a form of punishment; ban on Islamic schools in some states; and restricting the volume of loudspeakers in mosques.
“There is an effort to create problems for us. We can’t even speak freely,” he said.
His voice is interrupted by Santosh Kumar Aggarwal, a man in a cotton vest who sits cross-legged on the top bunk and listens to Subhan’s concerns.
“He speaks the language of Pakistan,” Aggarwal said, attacking Muslims, who make up 14% of the population. The blunt suggestion: If you are dissatisfied with the government, move to Muslim-majority Pakistan.
A Hindu, Aggarwal has been voting for the BJP for decades. Under Modi, he said, India is reaching new heights.
What about Subhan’s concerns?
“You see, [Muslims] may be facing problems,” Aggarwal said. “We don’t have any problems.”
What about the destruction of Muslim properties? “They [Muslims] they seized public lands under previous governments. That’s why they’re crying now,” he said.
As the train headed south, the land became greener and the farms larger. The houses of the rich stood out as the landscape passed by.
Aboard for a few more hours, the highest-paid passengers retrieved freshly starched white bedding from brown paper bags delivered to their bunks.
Nikunj Garg, a doctor, is worried about rising unemployment and problems in the education system. She believes that the quality of life should be improved for all Indians. “It’s the little things that matter most,” she said.
One seat ahead, Samodhra Meena questioned the government’s supposedly women-friendly policies, such as access to drinking water and cooking gas, which are a hallmark of the Modi administration, saying they did not benefit her family. “I want a change in government,” she said.
In the same carriage was Mahadev Prasad. Along with his family, Prasad was heading to Madurai, one of the oldest cities in India known for its Hindu temples. He carried with him holy water from the Ganges River as an offering to one of the temples.
Prasad is confident that Modi will return to power for a rare third term. He welcomed the government’s decision to revoke the semi-autonomy of Indian-administered Kashmir, a Muslim-majority region. And he supports Modi’s increased spending on infrastructure and the decision to build a Hindu temple on top of a destroyed mosque.
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“All industries have slowed down. Some are even being closed in my area,” he said. However, for Prasad, Modi achieved something important.
He draws on a widely accepted theory among Modi supporters to present his proposal: “In the past, Indians were not given much respect when traveling abroad. But now we are being respected.”
Vinoth Kumar, who was sitting next to Prasad, didn’t look very impressed.
Kumar, a 32-year-old telecommunications engineer from the southern Indian city of Tiruchirappalli, is critical of the Modi government. He said divisions based on language, ethnicity and religion are increasing due to Modi’s agenda, which prioritizes Hinduism.
Kumar predicts that if Modi wins another term “the country will not be secular.”
At the end of another day, the clamor on the train gave way to whispers. More passengers disembarked before the train made its final stop at the long beaches of Kanyakumari, which were becoming crowded with hundreds of men and women wading into the water’s edge.
They looked east, hands clasped, as the sun rose over the horizon.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
