New Delhi: The Vande Mataram controversy seems to have moved beyond ‘to sing or not to sing’ dilemma and has become more of political cacophony.
After the BJP-ruled states made compulsory the singing of National Song on September 7, much to the annoyance of Muslim groups, the party is facing the music.
The supreme body of Sunnis, the hardliner Darul Uloom of Deoband, has issued a fatwa (religious edict) against BJP vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi for his advocacy of the National Song – which they say goes against the tenets of Islam.
Naqvi had condemned the refusal by some Muslim clerics to abide by the directive on compulsory singing of Vande Mataram in schools on September 7.
He had said that those who oppose the National Song should "leave the country".
"Those who oppose our national song should better leave the country. Their opposition is a reflection of their separatist mindset," Naqvi had said, adding, "Every faith preaches patriotism. Those who are opposing singing of Vande Mataram in the name of Islam are going against the tenets of the faith.”
Citing religious reasons, some Muslim leaders have opposed the central directive to all schools to recite the first two stanzas of the National Song to mark the centenary of its adoption.
"Reciting Vande Mataram is against the tenets of the Shariat (Islamic law)," Zafaryab Jilani, a member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), had said.
"There are some lines in Vande Mataram which go against our religion," he said.
(With inputs from Bhupendra Chaubey)
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