Vande Mataram fatwa evokes huge outcry

New Delhi/Bareilly, Nov 4 : The fatwa passed by the Deoband seminary gathering against the singing of national song Vande Mataram evoked an outcry across the country today.

Janata Party president Subramaniam Swamy demanded the ''immediate dismissal of Home Minister P Chidambaram from the Cabinet'' for being silent on the fatwa.

In Bareilly, Union Minority Welfare and Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said there was nothing objectionable in the national song. He termed the protest ''wrong'' and ''uncalled for''.

Mr Swamy said in a statement issued in New Delhi, ''By being silent on the occasion and being present on the date of the Deoband Assembly, Mr Chidambaram - who is a Lok Sabha Member - has disgraced the chair occupaid by Sardar Patel and betrayed the freedom fighters who went to the gallows singing Vande Mataram.'' Dr Swamy has demanded the ''immediate dismissal of the Home Minister from the Cabinet since he has become a national shame.'' He urged the Muslim leaders to denounce the fatwa, saying it is violative of the Constitution and hence actionable under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Dr Swamy pointed out that on January 24, 1950 Dr Rajendra Prasad, then presiding over the Constituent Assembly, had got passed by unanimous acclaim and applause with all members present, including Muslim members, that Vande Mataram sung limited to first two stanzas ''shall have equal status with it (singing Jana Gana Mana)''. Hence, Vande Mataram be sung on all appropriate occations by all citizens, without any exceptions.

In 1983, in the Bijoy Emmanuel case, a constitutional bench upheld the dismissal of student FIR, refusing to sing the national anthem.

With the refusal to honour the Vande Mataram as the national song, even if based on a faulty translation of the word 'Vande', the Deoband Assembly has committed an act of treason, which is actionable, he said.

He added it could lead to clash of religions, sooner or later, which will be tragic for the nation.

Mr Khurshid pointed out while talking to UNI, ''A protest against Vande Mataram is certainly not welcome as after Independence, Jawaharlal Nehru, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and several leaders had removed the objectionable part of the song.'' It was only after this exercise that Vande Mataram was adopted as a national song. At this point of time, it should not be involved in controversy, he said.

Mr Khurshid said ''the decision of our great leaders, taken years ago, should be respected by everyone.'' The Jamiat-e-Ulema, in its national conference in Deoband in Saharanpur district of Uttar Pradesh yesterday resolved not to recite Vande Mataram.

In reply to a question, Mr Khurshid claimed that the Centre was going to implement the recommendations of Sachar committee report in toto.

He said the Centre was spending Rs 990 crore for the welfare of people belonging to minorities in this fiscal. He said Rs nine thousand crore had already been spent on scholarship of children from minority community last year.

Answering a question on Satyam scam, he said India had shown its power by rejuvenating the company after the scam. ''Moral values in a corporate sector is a must,'' the senior Congress leader added.

--UNI

(c) 2009 Published with permission from United News of India.
Unauthorised publication of any content from NewKerala.Com is prohibited