Owaisi's Constitutional Warning: Why Forcing Vande Mataram is Unlawful

Forcibly imposing Vande Mataram is unconstitutional: Owaisi

Hyderabad, Dec 8

Participating in the debate on Vande Mataram in Lok Sabha, the Hyderabad MP made it clear that singing Vande Mataram can't be the yardstick of patriotism.

He said India got independence and remained independent because 'we did not mix state with religion.

"If Vande Mataram is made a test of loyalty, it will amount to abandoning the ideology of Gandhi, Ambedkar, Tagore, Bose and lakhs of freedom fighters to accept the ideology of Godse and Hindu nationalism," he said.

Terming India a garden with a variety of flowers, he cautioned that if a gardener wants only one flower to bloom, this will turn the garden into a desert and the gardener will become a 'jallad' (hangman).

Stating that 'tauheed' (oneness of Allah) is the core of Islam, Owaisi said that Article 25 of the Constitution has given the right to Muslims. He warned that abandoning the liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship would be dangerous.

He made it clear that being Muslims does not respect their love for the country.

"Being a Muslim does not come in the way of our love for the country. We love our country and will always love it," he said and remarked that it would be wrong if those who were not part of the freedom movement taught patriotism to others.

"Despite being attacked in mosques, houses, what we wear and our business, we love this country, and will never leave it," he said.

Finding fault with the speeches made during the debate, Owaisi said that patriotism demands that you end repression, poverty, exploitation and unemployment, bring peace and harmony and root out Pakistan's terrorism.

"If you call Bharat a Devi, you are turning nationalism and patriotism into religion. It was said here that if one has to live in India, they have to recite Vande Mataram. This is against the Constitution and the orders of the Supreme Court," he said while citing various judgments.

Owaisi began his remarks by condemning the speech of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "We were strongly opposed to Jinnah, and that's why we accepted India as our country. In 1942, your beloved Veer and Jinnah's party had coalition governments in the Northwest Frontier, Bengal and Sindh, and they enrolled 1.5 lakh Hindus and Muslims into the British Army."

The AIMIM president also took strong exception to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's speech and termed his remarks about Ummul Momineen and Ummul Kitab as painful.

"Ummul Momineen is the wife of our Prophet. We consider her our mother, but we don't worship her. We don't worship our mother. Ummul Kitab is the Quran, but we don't worship the Quran," he said

He pointed out that the Constitution starts with the words 'we the people' and doesn't begin with Bharat Mata. The Preamble of the Constitution talks about liberty of thought, expression, faith, belief and worship.

"When the very first page of the Constitution itself grants complete freedom of thought, expression, belief, religion, and worship, then how can any citizen be compelled to worship any god or deity, or to prostrate in reverence," he asked.

— IANS