Almost a year after the incident of police violence over anti-CAA protests that left at least 60 students in AMU injured, Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered a speech on 22nd December, on the event of Aligarh Muslim University's centenary celebrations.

Apart from India's first and second Prime Ministers – Jawaharlal Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri – Modi is only the third PM to deliver a speech here since 1964.

But contrary to the anti-Muslim rhetoric pitched by the BJP which is indicative in some of the laws passed by the BJP government since 2019 such as NRC-CAA or the Love Jihad legislation, PM Modi interestingly stressed on unity in diversity.

While he steered clear of making any reference to the AMU attack, he showered praises on the university and its history of education.

He also highlighted the rich heritage and legacy of the university, calling AMU a "mini India" that has allowed a diversity of languages and cultures to thrive together in its small cosmos.

But at a time when there’s a general sense of insecurity among Muslim students and the Muslim population at large, what do we make of this symbolic gesture from the prime minister? Is he trying to reach out to the Muslim population? Do his words indicative of a shift in the political tone in BJP? Tune in to The Big Story!

Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha

Professor Irfan Habib, Historian of ancient and medieval India

Sudheendra Kulkarni, Columnist and BJP politician

Dr. Hilal Ahmed, Author and Associate professor of CSDS

Editor: Shelly Walia

Music: Big Bang Fuzz

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