How a Jinnah portrait at AMU is getting Muslims to reassert their identity

A portrait of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, on display inside Aligarh Muslim University since 1938, is prompting Muslims on campus to defend their identity today

On May 31, when Bharatiya Janata Party lost the Kairana Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh, there was one comment that became almost a chant for news channels — that ganna (sugarcane) had trumped Jinnah. This comment, though made by Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Jayant Chaudhary, referred to a controversy at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) almost a month ago. BJP MP Satish Gautam had raised questions over why a portrait of Muhammad Ali Jinnah was displayed inside AMU’s Union Hall. Right-wing groups were quick to join the clamour for the removal of the painting.

What Gautam and the right-wingers