Jobless & polarised, Ayodhya’s Instagram generation seeks a way out for greener opportunities

Lord Ram’s Janmabhoomi has a new demi-god for the young.

Nishad’s a fast-expanding fan club that is less than two years old has also got multiple millennial centric brands scope out this ‘ influencer,’ but the 21-year old school drop-out who swears by sneakers, black clothes, and oversized shades, is not willing to give in easily. “Companies are willing to pay anything from Rs 30,000 to Rs 50,000 month for a daily commitment of 23 short videos,” said Nishad, seemingly oblivious of the high decibel election campaign all around him.

A contract may well be his ticket to freedom and a source of sustenance for a Nishad boy like Aman who is parallelly trying his hand in professional photography. His community, around 10-12 per cent of the state’s vote spread over one dozen Lok Sabha constituencies, are predominantly boatmen and fishermen and belong to Other Backward Castes (OBC), but want it changed to Scheduled Castes (SC) with the hope to improve their low social and economic standings. Dalits and OBCs cumulatively are little over half of the total 3.8 lakh voters in Ayodhya.

This new generation would happily trade the divine for a degree that assures a job at the end of it. Inflation bites more than ideology.

“
Naukri ka bahoot dikkat hain Ayodha main,” admits Pooja Gaur, a 20 plus Instagrammer, who will “either join government service” and is preparing for her SSC exam, “or will move to Lucknow to pursue dance and acting.”

An overdose on social media has also opened up the horizon for many of these millennials, making them worldly wise digital natives. Even the backward caste or Muslim youths are conscious of their rights and aware of missed opportunities. Naturally, they are becoming far more restive, and angry at the lack of job vacancies, poor education and health opportunities in poll bound Ayodhya, the nub of kamandal politics in India’s Hindi heartland.

A decade of ‘jobless growth’ amplified by two years of Covid, has also begun pinching the poor or disenfranchised a whole lot more, underpinning the deep societal fissures that run deep even today. “
Brahmins, banias and thakur castes have become dominant in the last five years of the Yogi Adityanath government,” feels Avinash Kumar (24), a long-time supporter of Mayawati’s Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP). “Even in recruitments and other benefits they get preference over others. The youth leaders of Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad, (ABVP) too have been helping their core constituency here.”

“Dawai aur parai doh noi nahi hain Ayodhya main. (Healthcare and education both are found lacking in Ayodhya). You have to go outside of Ayodhya,” said Deven Sonkar, a graduate from Ram Manohar Lohia Awadh University, now part time street vendor following the deterioration of his father’s health. Last month, he has received a free tablet as part of a state government scheme, but it is of no use to him. “I already have a mobile phone. I would rather get a scholarship or a subsidy for my Rs 26,000 annual tuition fee. I belong to the Scheduled Caste category, so I am entitled for reservation as well.”

Forced to take a loan to fund his college, Deven is already in debt. “Abhi scholarship main bhi jaatibadi aa gaya hain,” he adds, hinting at the shrill and polarising election campaign under way.

This is the first election after the apex court verdict of last year that cleared the way for the construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. “Caste and creed have always been an issue in UP… Every time there was a court hearing, politicians would rake up the Hindu, Muslim divide but in a few days it would again normalise. But the Supreme Court verdict has really emboldened the Hindutva forces and the intensity of polarisation has only ratcheted up, ” feels Anil Kaushadhan, a Faizabad resident.

Faith has fractured the ancient town for good.

Show me the job

In its 2017 election manifesto, BJP had promised 70 lakh jobs in five years in the state, the country’s most populous. Only 5 lakh jobs have actually been given by the Yogi government so far. The Opposition – from Samajwadi Party to Congress and BSP – have all been raking up the issue as widespread disenchantment has been spilling over to the streets of capital Lucknow or cities like Kanpur over railway, police or teacher recruitment freeze. From promising 20-22 lakh jobs in public, private and even government sectors to filing up the backlog of 12 lakh vacancies in police and several other government departments to old pension scheme, parties across the spectrum are trying to capitalise on the vulnerabilities of the youth vote bank, post pandemic.

According to the RBI, unemployment rate in rural and urban Uttar Pradesh increased by 4.2 percentage points and 6.5 percentage points between 2011-12 and 2018-19.

Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week tried controlling the narrative, feel political observers in the state. Last Thursday, he berated the Opposition for mis selling a dream. “Today they (opposition parties) are again trying to mislead the youth of the state in the name of jobs. Truth is in 10 years they gave government jobs to only two lakh people that too on the basis of nepotism (Bhai-Bhatijawad), casteism and corruption,” he said while addressing a rally in Prayagraj. “Bharatiya Janata Party’s tenure were not based on criteria adopted by opposition parties but instead jobs were given with full transparency to the children of poor.”

In Ayodhya too, local party apparatchiks insist that the development of the Ayodhya Ram temple will have a multiplier effect on the entire region. “Development is the biggest poll agenda,” quipped Aman Mishra, Sangathan Mantri, ABVP in the temple city. “Work is ongoing at rocket speed. “For a population of 26 crore, not everybody will get jobs. But we are trying to improve education standards state wise. Any imbalance will derail the agenda of the government.”

For Rupesh Sharma, son of a barber, such polemic seems meaningless. Hours of practice on the banks of Sarayu to train for an opening army or the police constabulary has yielded little. “Kaha ka Vikaas (where is the development?),” he bemoaned. Since the outbreak of Corona, the job scene has become worse. “
rally nikal rahey hai, par vacancy nahin.” (protest rallies have been taking place but still no jobs). The 19-year old can comfortably complete 100 dips and chin up but failed in the last written entrance exam for the army. In sheer frustration, Sharma, a part time Covid vaccine volunteer has decided not to vote this time around.

In the past Faizabad and neighbouring Sultanpur’s leather or tobacco factories had business links with Kolkata but both are now gasping for survival. “You either stay here and be a shopkeeper or a vendor or a purohit or leave town with some IT, call centre jobs. Our colleges do not let us dream big,” laments Sartaj Ahmed, who is back in Ayodha after his master’s degree in water sciences.

Of Insta Posts, Reels & Marvel Universe

Like most of his peers, Sartaj too finds Facebook too politically toxic while Instagram, the current favourite is still
“halki phulki” (light and non-serious). Sartaj jokingly tells me he has even experimented with dating apps like Tinder, Hinge and Let’s Meet during graduation for
masti and timepass (fun). “Tinder main bahoot kand hota hai… Idhar toh, anti Romeo squad picchchey par jaate hain,” (Tinder is tricky. In Ayodhya, it draws the attention of Bajrang Dal), he said, referring to the Hindutva vigilante group of the Bajrang Dal.

Dhanajay Mishra, who like Aman is also deeply involved with the local BJP and ABVP units is confident that by 2026, the fruits of development will start showing. “Ayodhya will have Asia’s largest religious site. Tourism will get a huge leg up. Already several large 5 star hotels are coming up and this in turn will be a force multiplier for job and wealth creation opportunities.

Real estate around Ayodhya dham and Faizabad (now renamed Ayodhya as well) have more than doubled, especially around neighbourhoods like Guptar Ghat and Pathan Tolia. But Hritik Sonkar’s father, also a street vendor, is one among many who had to give way for the roads and highways to widen. Covid had already crippled the family income. The ongoing Ayodha beautification drive is pushing them further into misery. “This city was known for its small vendors. Now they are being rehabilitated, if at all, in far flung areas where nobody can earn a living,” Sonkar pointed out. Sonkar, A self-professed web series fanatic, Squid Games or Money Heist along with the Marvel Universe helps him create a parallel universe of riveting reveries.

Beti Hoo Lar Sakti hoo

For girls it has been harder to cope with offline classes during Covid. “We always get hand me down mobile phones from our brothers or other male members. Classes have been irregular and dropouts high,” said Shruti Sonkar, the youngest among her siblings. “But we are expected to master everything from cooking to housework, stitching and even train as a beautician. The stakes are really high for us.” Most girls her age prefer a teaching job or join the government sector but Shruti, student of KS Saket College, who finds actor Sunny Kaushal “cute” would rather be a wanderlust. “Young children who are not even in their teens are fighting over Ram and Rahim. We were not so conscious of politics. Neither does our generation care much about creed.” With her elder sister Jagruti and friend Aarzoo Khanam, Shruti is a volunteer at the Awadh People Forum, a social sector NGO, focussing on skill development for the youth and feminine health and hygiene. “From jobs to health, Covid has taken a toll on everything. Do you know private hospitals were not accepting Ayushman Bharat cards during Covid,” informs a wide eyed Jagruti. “Right now, nobody is bothered about college but earn money and have some savings.”

The upper caste Brahmin or Thakur community largely remains is sold on BJP even if many are unhappy with sitting MLA Ved Prakash Gupta. Modi for them has ensured “freedom” to their beloved Ram Lalla after “years of captivity”. So even if cooking oil is inches up to Rs 250 or admission scams have robbed their job prospects, life beyond the kamal symbol means the despicable “Yadav raaj” of the Samajwadi Party. “One has realistically judge the performance of the Yogi Sarkar. The two Covid years have been a washout for new jobs. Where could there be vacancy when no government department was working in full strength,” argues Dharmendra Mishra. “Ayodhya is expanding and the development agenda will certainly yield handsome dividends for all. Did anyone envisage that we might even have cruise boats on Sarayu river, much like Varanasi?” Mishra lists out a long list of social schemes aimed at the poor – free ration, power, housing, healthcare benefits – that was significantly widened the beneficiary pool, in his estimates.

Party workers like him are therefore pinning their hopes on the popular vote song that has been blasting all over the holy city in tandem with Pushpa’s Oo Antava Oo Oo Antava : Namaak roti khayenge par Modi ko hi jitayenge.”

For a second, you might just think 2024’s Lok Sabha election has got preponed.