‘Keep religion private’: Why an elite Noida neighbourhood is opposing a government-allotted temple

On Sunday, scores of Noida residents gathered in a park to protest against the Uttar Pradesh government’s move to allot a part of the park for the construction of a temple.

While the allotment process is still at a preliminary stage, residents worry that dozens of trees will be felled and daily life in the neighbourhood will be disrupted if a temple were to come up there. Sixty of them have even petitioned the Allahabad High Court, demanding that the Noida Authority notification about the allotment be quashed and the park be protected “in general public interest”.

The plot in question is a little over 300 square metres and is roughly valued at Rs 2.8 crores. It is part of the Vrindavan Park located in Sector 15A of Noida, Uttar Pradesh, a satellite town east of Delhi.

The posh locality is home to many retired bureaucrats, jurists and academics. On Sunday, some of them came out wearing t-shirts that bore a message: “Let the parks be.” They sang devotional songs, hugged trees, posed for pictures and picnicked with their neighbours – all under the watch of police officers standing at one of the entrances.

Nakul, a 38-year-old businessman who has lived in Sector 15A for over two decades, made it a point to mention that most of those protesting were “hardcore Hindus”. They had to come out of their homes on a Sunday morning, he explained, because “fanatics” were trying to build a temple without taking people like him into confidence.

“Most residents don’t want a temple,” Nakul claimed. “There are so many temples around. We have temples at home. All of us are hardcore Hindus, but we don’t wear our religion on our sleeves. We keep our religion private. But these guys have turned fanatics and want to build a temple here.”

He was referring to the former Union minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Mahesh Sharma, who lives in Sector 15A and has represented Gautam Buddha Nagar in Parliament for three consecutive terms starting from 2014. The BJP has also held the Assembly seat of Noida, of which Sector 15A is a part, since 2012. It won the seat with more than 70% of the votes and a massive 1.8 lakh margin over the next candidate in the 2022 Assembly elections.

Not only Nakul, but several others blamed Sharma, the local MP, for pushing the temple project. Some even alleged that he is connected to a trust that is participating in the allotment process. Sharma did not respond to multiple interview requests from Scroll. This story will be updated if he responds.

‘Nothing to do with religion’

SP Singh, 79, curled his moustache when asked why the demand for a temple had caused friction in the neighbourhood. The gesture was meant to indicate that the MP had linked the issue to his personal prestige. If Sharma so wanted a temple in the area, Singh suggested that he build it on a plot of land he himself owns.

“The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has given him [MP Mahesh Sharma] a target to make 128 temples in Noida,” he alleged. “It is all about the RSS. It has nothing to do with religion. He just wants to be close to the RSS because it is running the show.”

The retired revenue service officer built his Sector 15A house in 1992. He is the lead petitioner in the court case for which he travelled to Prayagraj last week. The name of his wife, Kushal Singh, who served as the first woman chief secretary of Rajasthan, is on the list of petitioners as well.

SM Dewan, Singh’s golfing partner, feared that building a temple would set a precedent. Muslims and Sikhs residing in Sector 15A could also ask for mosques and gurudwaras to be constructed here, he reasoned.

The 82-year-old contended that the Noida Authority notification regarding the plot, which was put out on February 5, went against the Modi government’s promise of “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas”. Together with all, development for all.

“It still shocks us that on the one hand, our beloved leader Modiji talks of peace and development while on the other, a small entity like Noida Authority negates everything he says,” Dewan complained. “He is our favourite leader. We revere him because he is protecting the country. Despite him being in power, a small government authority is blatantly disobeying him.”

‘Reflection of what is happening in the country’

However, others were not surprised by majoritarian politics finding its way to elite settlements like Sector 15A.

“Frankly, this is a reflection of what is happening in the country,” said JK Jain, 69, who has lived in the area since 1993. “The polarisation is percolating to the ground level.”

In his view, addressing the concerns of all, even if they are in the minority, is essential for maintaining good relations among neighbours. He faulted the residents’ welfare association for acting in a “biased” manner instead of organising “a dialogue” with those opposing the temple.

But Swati Gaur, the association’s president, distanced herself from the controversy saying that the issue pertained to the Noida Authority alone. She insisted that “anxieties” about the temple had not fostered any “animosity” among people living in Sector 15A.

“The residents are always together,” Gaur added. “There are differences of opinion which arise and then they are all sorted out. We are all friends at the end of the day. Ours is a very close-knit community.”

Yet, the tension in the community was palpable when Scroll visited the neighbourhood on Sunday. The protest gathering coincided with an annual cricket match that was being played in the ground across the street from the park. Those who came to the park and expressed their opposition to the temple project had boycotted the match.

At the game of cricket, too, the feeling of unease was shared by attendees. Lawyer Prashant Joshi, who was the commentator for the match, also expressed the view that a temple was not needed in Sector 15A. In fact, he suggested that the majority of residents were against the idea even though they may not say so openly.

“Today, the environment is full of fear,” Joshi explained. “We have only ourselves to blame for this. The middle class always lives in fear and blames everybody else. If we come together, why will the temple be built? We are in the majority. Who are we afraid of? We should speak up.”