Varanasi sadhus undertake Vande Mataram yatra to usher Jan Chetna<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Varanasi, Aug.29 (ANI): The controversy over the recital of the national song is yet to be resolved as evident from the sadhus in Varanasi who organised a Janchetna Yatra on Monday to encourage the singing of the national song.
The sadhus took out a march in the city of Ganges, singing Vande Mataram all through the way. Many people later joined the march and also sang the same. They insisted that the recital of the national song, which laid the foundation of our freedom struggle, can not be withdrawn from its old status as it reflected nation's true identity.
"We want to say that Vande Mataram being the national song, it deserves an important place and the one who denies doing so can not be a true nationalist," said Arun Pathak, President, Kranti Shiv Sena.
Criticising the opposition to sing the national song, Swami Narendranath one of the Sadhus said that reckoning the essence of true patriotism in the song, religious bigotry should be shunned.
"We want the people to come out of factionalism and realise the true spirit of this song. It evolves within itself several meanings and one should be free to accept the radical things instead of being stubborn," said Swami Narendranath.
Recently, a directive issued by the Ministry of Human Resources Development (HRD) that oversees education wanted all schools to recite the first two stanzas of the song at 11 am on September 7 to mark the completion of the centenary celebrations commemorating adoption of the national song.
However, when some Muslim clerics in Uttar Pradesh objected to this by contending that singing Vande Mataram amounted to worshipping the motherland and Muslims cannot worship any other than Allah.
Soon, the HRD minister, Arjun Singh, on a second thought, then diluted the appeal and made the recital of Vande Mataram optional. (ANI)
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<b>Vande Mataram row gets shriller </b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->While Maharashtraâs Shiv Sena will organise a mass recitation all over Maharashtra on September 7, the Jamaiti-Islami-Hind - a Muslim body in Rajasthan - will be opposing the singing of the patriotic song in its madrasas.
Officials in Rajasthan, however, said that the order is not compulsory, although the state government will see to it that it is followed by all educational institutions.
Though the BJP-ruled Gujarat has also issued specific instructions the education department, asking them to ensure that the song is sung in all educational institutions on September 7, Chief Minister Narendra Modi is conspicuous by his silence.
In Haryana, the ruling Congress and the main Opposition party - Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) - have been unanimous in their decision to sing the song on September 7 and are of the belief that the song's association with the freedom struggle overrides any criticism.
So, as Vande Mataram completes a century of being written with pride and sung with gusto, the question is whether it will face the music for being the national song and will it be reduced to a crass cacophony of political one-upmanship
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The Sunday Pioneer / Agenda Cover Story / August 27, 2006.
<b>Idea of INDIA Under Assault</b>
Kanchan Gupta
The two of them walked into the moonlit night. Mahendra was grieving, but also strangely curious.
Suddenly Bhabananda became a different person. He was no longer a calm and patient sanyasi; nor did he look like a bloodthirsty warrior. In the stillness of this full moon night, amid the verdant forest and its rippling brooks, he became joyous. Bhabananda repeatedly tried to draw Mahendra into a conversation, but finding no response he burst into song:
Mahendra was surprised by the lyrics, partly because he could not follow the words. Sujalaam... Suphalaam... Malayajashiitalaam... Sasyashyaamalaam...  "Who's maata?" he asked Bhabananda. Without answering the question, Bhabananda continued the song:
Mahendra said, "This is desh (my country), this is not maata!"
Bhabananda replied, "We recognise no other mother - our mother is our motherland... We have no mothers, fathers, brothers, friends... we don't have wives, children, homes. All that we have is this sujalaa suphalaa, malayajashiitalaa, sasyashyaamalaa..."
With realisation dawning, Mahendra said, "Do continue with your song."
Bhabananda began to sing again:
Vande maataram
Sujalaam suphalaam malayaja shiitalaam
Sasyashyaamalaam maataram
Shubhrajyotsnaa pulakitayaaminiim
Pullakusumita drumadala shobhiniim
Suhaasiniim sumadhura bhaashhiniim
Sukhadaam varadaam maataram
Koti koti kantha kalakalaninaada karaale
Dwisapta koti bhujaidhrat kharakaravaale
Abalaa keno maa eto bale
Bahubaladhaariniim namaami taariniim
Ripudalavaariniim Maataram
Tumi vidyaa tumi dharma Tumi hridi tumi marma
Tvam hi praanaah shariire Baahute tumi maa shakti
Hridaye tumi maa bhakti Tomaara i pratimaa gadi
Mandire mandire Tvam hi Durgaa dashapraharanadhaarinii
Kamalaa kamaladala vihaarinii
Vaanii vidyaadaayinii namaami tvaam
Namaami kamalaam amalaam atulaam
Sujalaam suphalaam Maataram
Vande Mataram
Shyaamalaam saralaam susmitaam bhuushhitaam
Dharaniim bharaniim Maataram
Mahendra saw tears streaking down an emotional Bhabananda's face. Amazed, Mahendra asked, "Who are you?" Bhabananda said, "We are santaan (children of the motherland)."
Free translation from Bankim Chandra Chatterjee's Anandamath)
Contrary to popular belief, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee wrote the lyrics of Vande Mataram, or at least the first two stanzas of the song, much before he penned Anandamath, his novel celebrating the sanyasi uprising against the tyrannical rule of Bengal's Muslim subedars. The original version was written sometime in the early 1870s - probably 1875 - and was later expanded into its full version and incorporated in Anandamath in 1881.
Much later, when Vande Mataram became the rallying cry of India's freedom movement, after it was set to music by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore and adopted as the National Song at the Varanasi session of the Congress on September 7, 1905 (it was accorded this status, bringing it at par with the National Anthem, officially by the Constituent Assembly on January 24, 1950), leaders of what was then incipient Muslim separatism began to raise the bogey that Bankim Chandra Chatterjee's creation was "idolatrous" and, therefore, unIslamic. In time, this became, and continues to remain, the chant of those sections of the clergy and community who remain hopeful of setting the clock back by 150 years, if not more, when much if not all of India was ruled through firmans issued from the masnad of Delhi, more specifically Lal Qila.
There is little reason for either surprise or anguish over the ulema's whiplash response to Union Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh's letter to Chief Ministers, in which he said, "The year-long commemoration of 100 years of adoption of Vande Mataram as the National Song started on September 7, 2005 and will be coming to a close on September 7, 2006. As a befitting finale to the commemoration year, it has been decided that the first two stanzas of the National Song Vande Mataram should be sung simultaneously in all schools, colleges and other educational institutions throughout the country..."
In Hyderabad, Maulana Syed Shah Badruddin Qadri, president of the Sunni Ulema Board, issued a fatwa, instructing Muslims not to sing the National Song and added that Muslims should not send their children to schools where Vande Mataram is sung. In Allahabad, India's all-weather Islamist and Shahi Imam of Delhi's Jama Masjid Syed Ahmed Bukhari turned apoplectic with rage and described any attempt to make Muslims sing the National Song as "oppression of Muslims".
Such resistance and refusal has been registered by the ulema earlier too. Maulana Abul Hasan Ali Nadvi, aka Ali Mian, who, while he was alive, came to represent theological fanaticism and practised it with unabashed gusto as chairman of the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board, often raved and ranted against Vande Mataram while rubbishing all suggestions that the National Song defines the idea of Indian nationhood as something sacred and divine.
Nor is it surprising that the same Ali Mian, in his stirring address to a gathering of Indian and Pakistani Muslims in Jeddah on April 3, 1986, should have exulted, "Cow slaughter in India is a great Islamic practice, (said) Mujadid Alaf Saani II. This was his farsightedness that he described cow slaughter in India as a great Islamic practice. It may not be so in other places. But it is definitely a great Islamic act in India because the cow is worshipped in India."Â
Hence the renewed rage against Vande Mataram because it symbolises the motherland India worships; it must be profaned because we associate with the "ode to the motherland", to quote Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, "the purest national spirit"; it must be denigrated because, as Bipin Chandra Pal (a "terrorist" in the present UPA regime's jaundiced eyes) put it, "The new nationalism which Vande Mataram reveals is not a mere civic or economic or political ideal. It is a religion." It is this religion of nationalism and patriotism, and not merely India's National Song, which is once again under attack from those who hawk Islamic revanchism and preach bigotry and separatism in the guise of protecting the identity of India's Muslims.
The fresh fatwa against Vande Mataram is not without history and can be traced to the Congress's capitulation in the face of Islamic opposition. In 1923, the Congress met at Kakinada and Maulana Mohamed Ali was brought to the venue in a procession led by a raucous band. As was the practice, the session was scheduled to begin with a rendition of Vande Mataram by Pandit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar. When Pandit Paluskar rose to sing what had by then become the anthem of India's freedom movement, Maulana Mohamed Ali protested, saying that music was taboo to Islam and, therefore, singing Vande Mataram would hurt his religious sensitiveness. Pandit Paluskar snubbed the maulana, pointing out that the Congress session was an open gathering and not a religious congregation of any one faith. For good measure, he added that since the maulana had not found the band that led his procession a taboo to Islam, he could not object to the singing of Vande Mataram.
Maulana Mohammed Ali may have been stumped on that occasion, but by the time India became independent from foreign rule, the Congress had conceded ground to those who today have the temerity to scoff at the National Song or refuse to sing the National Anthem as activists of the Students Islamic Movement of India or members of the Jehovah's Witness sect do. By 1937, Vande Mataram had become a "Muslim grievance" and Ali Sardar Jafri convinced fellow-traveller Jawaharlal Nehru that the song which had inspired the freedom movement and sent martyrs like Khudiram Bose to the gallows without any trace of regret, was actually "idolatrous in spirit". Nehru went a step further and described the mantra of Indian nationalism and patriotism as "out of keeping with modern notions of nationalism and progress."
The Muslim League was quick to take its cue from Nehru and a month later, on October 17, 1937, passed a resolution at its Lucknow session, condemning the Congress for "foisting Vande Mataram as the national song upon the country in callous disregard of the feelings of Muslims." When the Congress Working Committee met in Calcutta later that year with Nehru as president, it officially recognised "the validity of the objections raised by the Muslims to certain parts of the Vande Mataram song" and "recommended that at national gatherings only the first two stanzas of the song should be sung."
But appeasement does not have any limit - the Muslim League was not reassured either by Nehru's action or his promise that Vande Mataram in "future (will) become less important." The Pirpur Committee, which was set up by the Muslim League to compile a list of "atrocities against Muslims", submitted its report on November 15, 1938. Among the "atrocities against Muslims" was listed Vande Mataram.
As September 7, 2006 approaches, we hear a similar refrain from the League's legatees: "Asking us to sing Vande Mataram is oppression of Muslims." The Pirpur report is being written all over again.
Before independence, the Congress sacrificed the cultural and civilisational content of Vande Mataram, which even in its truncated form is nothing but a hymnal tribute to an idyllic Mother India, on the altar of the Muslim League's separatist politics. We see a similar capitulation today with the Congress declaring, in response to the ulema's rant against Vande Mataram, that it is not compulsory to sing the National Song.
Soon, it will be the turn of the National Anthem, and then the idea of India as a nation and a nation-state. No price, it would seem, is too high to pay in order to keep the ulema in good humour. http://dailypioneer.com/AGENDA1.asp?main_v...t&counter_img=1Â
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd--><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Vande Mataram at Chandni Chowk </b>
Staff Reporter | New Delhi
Chandni Chowk will echo with Vande Mataram on September 2. Thousands of people are likely to congregate and sing Vande Mataram and other patriotic songs. BJP president Rajnath Singh will be the chief guest on the occasion. LK Advani will also be present.Â
Former Union Minister and BJP leader Vijay Goel said that singer and musician Satyanarayan Maurya Baba will lead the people in singing the National Song and doing Bharat Mata ki Aarti. The function is being organised by Lok Abhiyan, a social and cultural organisation of which Goel is the president. Goel further added that this programme is organised on the occasion of Shri Guruji centenary year, the second Sar Sanghchalak of RSS.
Goel said that the people of India love and respect Vande Mataram. He said that as part of BBC's 70th anniversary celebrations, an online survey of the World's top 10 songs was conducted in November 2002. It received tremendous response from millions of Internet users from 155 countries. And Vande Mataram was second.
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Goel further urged people to organise similar said that similar type of programme should be organised all over the country. This would enhance the patriotism and communal harmony in India.
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He said that those who oppose the song to sing and making it controversial are opposing the national unity of our country. "Vande Mataram is a symbol of our freedom struggle and we feel proud to recite it," said Goel. Late Shri Bankim Chandra Chatterjee composed Vande Mataram, a poem known for sublimity of thought dedicated to the glory of mother nation in November 7, 1876.
Meanwhile, Delhi BJP on Saturday informed that senior party leaders including vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Pradesh president Dr Harsh Vardhan and party workers are scheduled to burn the effigy of Union HRD Minister Arjun Singh on Sunday at Azadpur to protest against his stand on the National Song. http://dailypioneer.com/indexn12.asp?main_...t&counter_img=3
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Vande Mataram must be optional </b>
Nehaluddin | Secretary General, People's Democratic FrontÂ
Love for the country overcomes socio-religious barriers, but the concept of bowing one's head has a religious connotation that cannot be imposed upon those people whose religious convictions do not permit this
Vande Mataram has off and on been a bone of contention. As the composition of this song is approaching its centenary year and with the Government planning its commemoration, it is threatening to rip society along religious lines.
In the ongoing debate, Hindutva organisations have found a renewed opportunity to exploit religious sentiments and infuse a new vigour in its shaking ideology of 'cultural nationalism', thus strengthening the sagging morale of its cadre. Muslims, on the other hand, are regarding the compulsory singing of Vande Mataram as an onslaught on their religious belief, which dictates them not to bow their heads before any abstract or concrete entity except god.
As is inherent in democracy, the tone and tenor of politicians and the cognitive faculties of general masses undergo a radical transformation on the eve of election, whether at the State or the national level. So is the case with the ongoing controversy surrounding Vande Mataram. The Assembly election in Uttar Pradesh is round the corner and all political parties have started making caste and communal calculations so as to achieve optimal electoral benefits. However, for vast multitude of secular Indians, such social tensions must be treated as occasions to analyse the basic postulates of Indian democracy. They should, in fact, make concerted efforts to eliminate such irritants.
It is high time for people to give a dispassionate thinking to some of the following issues: Is the foundation of Indian secularism weak? Have we been unable to understand its true meaning and transform it into a living reality? And whether the old cultural and religious values, which had a totally different dimension when they came into existence, are forcefully squeezed into the new secular values through the Constitution. These are some basic questions that need immediate attention if we are sincere in preserving our common heritage of communal harmony.
It is commonly known that the concept of secularism in India is based on the diversity of religious, social and cultural values. There is no doubt that India is the only country in the world that is harbouring within its bosom so many religious entities and their countless branches. Having such a vast ocean of cultural ethos, occasional clashes between different currents are inevitable, but their frequency must be reduced through strong will. Evidently, it was this sagacity, prescience and farsightedness that inspired the makers of the Constitution to phrase Article 25: "Freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion":
(1) Subject to the public order, morality and health and to the other provisions of this part, all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practice and propagate religion
The Supreme Court, being extremely cautious about the sensitivities and susceptibilities of Indian social structure has consistently endeavoured to protect the underlying spirit of the language of this Article. In 1954, in the case of Rati Lal Panachand Gandhi Vs State of Bombay, AIR, 1954 SC, pp.388,392, it declared, "Religious practices or performances of acts in pursuance of religious belief are as much a part of religion as faith or belief in particular doctrines."
Again in Bijoe Emmanuel Vs State of Kerala, AIR 1987 SC 748, it emphasised: "That the question is not whether a particular religious belief or practice appeals to our reason or sentiment, but whether the belief is genuinely and conscientiously held as part of the profession or practice of religion. Our personal views and reactions are irrelevant. If the belief is genuinely and conscientiously held it attracts the protection of Article 25 but subject, of course, to the inhibitions contained therein."
In this case, the Supreme Court upheld the religious belief of the Jehovah's Witnesses not to sing the National Anthem. Significantly, according to the decision of the apex court, a person cannot be compelled even to sing the National Anthem if its singing is against his religious belief.
When the Constitution is so explicit on the concept of religious freedom and the Supreme Court, too, has consistently been attempting to strengthen the country's secular polity, it is highly regrettable that some political parties have been unscrupulously generating useless controversies.
Vande Mataram was composed 100 years ago for a particular community and under totally different social milieu. It is because of its direct invasion over the monotheistic religious structure of Islam that whenever any attempt is made to elevate it to the status of National Anthem, it is opposed by Muslims. It was because of this opposition that even the NDA Government could not make the singing of Vande Mataram compulsory.
We love our country, she is our "Mahboob but can't be the Maboot (Almighty)". To love one's country is different from worshipping it. Love for the country overcomes socio-religious barriers, but the concept of bowing one's head has a religious connotation that cannot be imposed upon those people whose religious convictions do not permit this. Muslims, therefore, should not be forced to sing Vande Mataram.
A determined band of fanatics committed to unrelenting jihad against all "non-believers" have landed Muslims in a soup. A YouGov survey published in Friday's Daily Telegraph revealed that 53 per cent of Britons believe "Islam posed a threat to Western liberal democracy". In the immediate aftermath of 9/11 less than a third of the United Kingdom held such views. What began as a "war on terror" in the West is fast escalating into the much-feared "clash of civilisations."Â
Coming on the heels of another survey which suggested that nearly one-third of British Muslims are in sympathy with those President Bush called "Islamic fascists", it is not surprising that the West is gripped by a dread of Islam - a fear which explains the disproportionate reaction to 12 exuberant Mumbai Muslims on the flight from Amsterdam. "We simply do not know", admitted writer William Shawcross in the Wall Street Journal, "how to deal with the fact that we are threatened by a vast fifth column..."
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It would be sheer escapism to insist these fears are missing from India. The Hindu-CNN-IBN State of the Nation Survey conducted after the Mumbai blasts showed that a whopping 35 per cent of Indians believe that terrorism is supported by Indian Muslims. A few more terrorist incidents and the perception may end up becoming common sense.
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Amid this growing polarisation, it was heartening that a Ulema-convened conference on terrorism adopted a resolution condemning "all forms of terror" and describing terrorism as "completely un-Islamic". Regardless of the conference being too much of a sarkari show, the declaration was a positive move.
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Yet one step forward was accompanied by two steps backward. On the sidelines of the conference, SQR Ilyas, spokesman of the All India Muslim Personal Board, announced that Muslims will not sing the country's national song Vande Mataram. "We love the country but don't worship (it)", announced Ilyas, "The song talks about worshipping, as in idol worship, which is against the fundamental ethos of Islam. It is a very sensitive issue for Muslims, so they can't be asked to do this for even a single day."
Sectarian objections to Vande Mataram were a key component of the Muslim League's separatist agenda prior to 1947. Yet, since the first two stanzas of the song was adopted as the national song in 1950 and put on par with the national anthem, the controversy was deemed to have been settled. By putting its authority behind an organised boycott of the most potent symbol of the freedom struggle, the AIMPLB has wilfully sought to pit Muslims versus India. The move is not only deeply offensive but an assault on the Constitution. It is tantamount to burning the national flag.
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A weak UPA Government has declared that singing Vande Mataram is not compulsory. The issue is not the exercise of individual vocal cords; it is respecting and acknowledging Vande Mataram . By declaring a symbol of nationhood to be optional, the Government has opened the floodgates of emotional separatism. In its deposition before the Unlawful Activities tribunal, SIMI has stated that it is not obliged to sing the national anthem. Will the Government acquiesce to this outrageous assertion on the grounds of pluralism? Where will this assault on Indian nationhood stop?
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Many Muslims have reacted sharply to the AIMPLB diktat. They recognise the enormous problems this decision will create for ordinary Muslims who are neither terrorists nor anti-India. They understand the grave implications of narrow-minded dogmatism on communal harmony. They must be encouraged to speak up, defy the bigots and speak up for India.
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The appeal of Vande Mataram is inspirational, as AR Rehman demonstrated some years ago. September 7 will mark the 101st anniversary of Vande Mataram being anointed the national song. It should be observed this year and all years to come as Vande Mataram Day, a day when the soul of a nation long suppressed found expression. Let Vande Mataram symbolise both our commitment to India and our defiance of those who want to destroy it.
Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has turned down the BJP's request to allow 200 Muslims from its minority cell to sing Vande Mataram in front of Mahatma Gandhi's statue in the Parliament compound.
"The permission is not forthcoming," BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad said today.
The party, which announced Vande Mataram as its key election issue in Uttar Pradesh, had last week spelt out plans to hold a rendition of the national song by 200 Muslims in the Parliament complex.
The party leadership also made a written request to the Speaker to allow it to hold the event.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>First expression of nationhood </b>
Pioneer.com
Sidharth Mishra | New Delhi
A historical study of the national song Vande Mataram establishes that it was the first expression of Indian Nationhood.
Union HRD Minister Arjun Singh and Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi may indulge in selective amnesia to pander to the obscurantist Ulema, but the 'official' history of the country, written in the pre-NDA period, however, makes specific references to Vande Mataram as a tool employed by freedom fighters to stir the nation against British imperialism.
It would be interesting to refer to Modern India' authored by Bipan Chandra for the NCERT. This text has not just been authored by a "non-saffron" historian but also cleared by an editorial board consisting of other eminent names from the non-saffron strand. The board was chaired by S Gopal and had S Nurul Hasan, Satish Chandra and Romila Thapar as members. The last two and Bipan Chandra being votaries of protest against the attempt of HRD Ministry under Murli Manohar Joshi to saffronise history texts.
Coming back to the book, in the chapter Nationalist Movement 1905-1918, states: "The Anti-Partition movement ...was initiated on 7 August 1905. On that day a massive demonstration against the partition was organised in Town Hall in Calcutta... The partition took effect on 16 October 1905. The leaders of the movement declared it to be a day of mourning. There was a hartal in Calcutta. People walked barefoot and bathed in Ganga. Rabindranath Tagore composed a national song for the occasion which was sung by huge crowds parading the streets. The streets of Calcutta were full of the cries of Vande Mataram which overnight became national song of Bengal and which was soon to become the theme song of national movement."
The same chapter also expounds in detail on the role of such leaders who propagated the idea of Muslim nation and distanced themselves from the movement, which later acquired the name of Swadeshi. To quote, "A remarkable aspect of the Swadeshi agitation was active participation of women in the agitation. ...Many prominent Muslims joined Swadeshi movement... Many other middle and upper class Muslims however remained neutral, or, led by Nawab of Dacca (who was given a loan of Rs 14 lakh by Government of India) even supported Partition on the plea that East Bengal would have a Muslim majority. In this communal attitude, the Nawab of Dacca and others were encouraged by the officials."
In an analysis of the role played by Bankim Chandra's Anandamath and the hymn Vande Mataram, Sumit Sarkar in his critically acclaimed Modern India - 1885-1947, writes: "<b>The initial and natural form of expression of the patriotism of the intelligentsia was through literature in regional language... The greatest single influence was Bankimchandra, with his historical novels climaxed by Anandamath (1882) with its Bande Mataram hymn."</b>Â
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<!--emo&:thumbsup--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumbup.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='thumbup.gif' /><!--endemo--> India not governed by Shariat: Naqvi
[ 2 Sep, 2006 1642hrs ISTPTI ]
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NEW DELHI: Faced with criticism from Darul Uloom over his remarks that those who oppose Vande Mataram should leave India, senior BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Saturday rejected it as an expression of separatist mindset.
"In my opinion, the clerics who regard Vande Mataram and its advocates as anti-Muslim are people of anti-national mindset," he said.
The Islamic seminary has flayed Naqvi for his remarks against Muslim clerics and advised Muslim parents not to send their children to schools enforcing the Vande Mataram directive on September 7.
"The Indian administration is governed not by Shariat but by a secular Constitution," Naqvi said in a statement here.
"Fatwas by clerics of separatist mindset cannot weaken patriotism of crores of Muslims like me," the BJP leader said.
Naqvi triggered a row with Muslim clerics opposed to compulsory singing of the national song on September 7 when he remarked that such people should rather leave India.
Meanwhile, another BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain blamed the Congress for the current controversy over the singing of Vande Mataram and said it would adversely affect national interest.
"It is a political gimmick meant to encash its vote bank. Muslims, in fact, have no grudge in singing Vande Mataram ; they have been singing it for the last 58 years. Congress has taken it in such a way so that it may get political leverage," the former union minister told reporters in Mathura on Friday night.
NEW DELHI: Amidst a controversy over the Centre's directive for the recitation of Vande Mataram in schools, students from 18 countries, including Pakistan, danced to the tune of the national song here on Sunday as part of an international children's festival.
When the children from countries including Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, South Africa and Nigeria presented their scintillating dancing skills, Leader of Opposition L K Advani sat through the whole programme and cheered them.
"This performance is a homage to every nation of the world. I am relly excited by their performance," Advani told these encouraging words to the young performers.
Film maker Madhur Bhanderkar described the performance as "mind blowing" and complemented the students, saying that they can beat many actors in Bollywood.
Over 500 students, including 327 from abroad, participated in the week-long grand festival organised by Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR), Ryan Foundation in association with Sangeet Natak Academy.
"This an annual event being conducted to promote cultural ties and relations between our students with their counterpart from other countries," Grace Pinto, director of Ryan International School, said.
The students also presented a dance drams "Alli Baba Chalish Chor".
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Nothing religious about it </b>
Pioneer.com
Those who claim that singing Vande Mataram is a threat to their religion, say so without giving the matter due thought, says Maulana Waheeduddin Khan
Couple of hundred years ago, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee wrote a novel in Bengali, Aanandamath. A long Sanskrit poem called Vande Mataram, which he had written earlier, was included in it and was recited by one of the characters of the novel.
A section of society holds that this is a patriotic song. Therefore, it wants students of educational institutions all over India to sing it daily at the morning assembly to inculcate the spirit of patriotism. On the other hand, another group is of the opinion that this song makes references to certain gods and goddesses of a specific religion, and is therefore suitable only for that section of society which believes in them. For other sections, which subscribe to other religions, singing a song that glorifies the gods and goddesses of any other religion would be against their own religion.
This controversy has existed between these two groups from days before 1947 and has survived all these years. Recent developments have brought this issue once again into the limelight, as September 7, 2006, is supposed to be the 100th anniversary of Vande Mataram. Those who believe in the sanctity of this song want it to be sung all over the country on that day.
After India achieved its independence in 1947, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, the first Prime Minister, said that the biggest drawback to India's progress was that Indians lacked 'scientific temper.' Unfortunately, this holds true till today. The Vande Mataram controversy is one of the many manifestations of this fact. It is evident that, in dealing with this issue, both groups have abandoned reason and have taken the path of extremism. And the phenomenon of extremism inevitably results from an emotional rather than a scientific approach
What needs to be kept in mind, first and foremost, while dealing with this issue is that Vande Mataram is part of a novel. It is not part of the Vedas or the Gita or any other religious text. This proves the fact that this is by no means a religious issue. Thus, those who claim that singing this song is a threat to our religion, say so without giving the matter due thought.
However, if they wish to oppose the singing of this song on the September 7, they must also object to other similar things. For example, Iqbal once said while addressing a Brahmin, "Pathar ki murti mein samjha hai tu khuda hai, khake watan ka mujh ko har zarra devata hai." Here Iqbal says that every particle of my homeland (India) is a god or idol for me, which indeed is a superior Vande Mataram. Now, if we take what Iqbal wrote seriously, then we have to criticise him, too. Thus, it is very important not to take everything to a logical end.
Those favouring the singing of this song have not given enough thought to this issue. They believe that singing of Vande Mataram would infuse people with a feeling of patriotism. But Vande Mataram has been sung consistently over the past 60 long years and the question is, has it by any stretch of the imagination succeeded in instilling patriotism? Anyone, who has seen pre-independent India, when there was not much mention of Vande Mataram, will know that in those days there was patriotism par excellence.
Singing Vande Matram is a cultural matter. Practically, it has nothing to do with religion or, as 60 years of its continuous singing shows, with the progress of our nation. So, the pro-Vande Mataram group hopes that this song will enhance patriotism among Indians and the anti-Vande Mataram group fears that the religion of their children will be jeopardised. Both hopes and fears are equally baseless in this regard. Vande Mataram is nothing but a ritualistic song and a ritualistic song cannot enhance the spirit of patriotism and neither can it decrease the belief in a religion. Its previous history is enough to prove this point.
It is the time for introspection and reassessment of all that we have thought and done so far. If we make this reassessment, we shall realise that the need of the hour in country is education.
A survey recently conducted all over India revealed that the number of places of worship in India (church, temples, mosques, gurudwaras, etc) is greater in number than educational institutions. We therefore need to work towards eliminating this disparity and not waste time on an issue as trivial as the one at hand. Therefore, today we need education and not Vande Mataram.
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>BJP leader hits out at Vande Mataram fatwa</b> link
Onkar Singh in New Delhi | September 02, 2006 14:38 IST
Senior leader of the Bhartiya Janata Party, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has hit out at the fatwa issued by Darul-ul-Islam's which had criticised Naqvi as anti-Islam for supporting the singing of the national song Vande Matram.
"There is nothing above national pride and Vande Matram is our national song and one feels proud while singing it. There is nothing anti-Islam in such action. Those who are criticising me or issuing fatwas against me for supporting singing of the national song are spreading the separatist agenda," Naqvi told rediff.com.
<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>He also reminded the so-called scholars of Deoband that they are not living in a theocratic Muslim state but in a secular republic where all religions are at par with each other. </span>
"How can the so-called scholars tell the Muslims that they should pull out their sons and daughters from the schools where Vande Matram is sung. They are trying to divert the attention of the Muslim community from the socio-economic and educational related problems by issuing fatwas," he said.
He said that no organisation has the right to question his nationalism." Those propogating against Vande Matram are the true followers of Osama bin Laden," he said.
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<!--emo&:blink:--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='blink.gif' /><!--endemo--> <b>To sing or not to sing Vande Mataram</b>
[ 3 Sep, 2006 2313hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
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However, spokesperson of Gujarat chapter of All India Milli Council and member of the Muslim Personal Law Board Munir Kheruwalla in Vadodara says that they agree with Deoband's appeal that Muslims should keep their children away from schools on September 7.
"Our stand is clear that Vande Mataram should not be made compulsory and we don't need any certificates that we are loyal to the nation." Kheruwalla also took a dig at the BJP stating "those who considered 'madarasas' as terrorist camps are now stating that madarasas are educational institutes!"
As far as Surat is concerned a large number of minority run schools are clear about what they are going to do on September 7.
Mohammed Suleiman Michla, principal of MMP high school in Rander told TOI that they have no problems in Vande Matram being sung in the school.
Other minority run schools and institutions that have expressed their consent are MA Mullah Pipardiwala school, MA girls high school, MTB technical education school, Rampura physiotherapy college, Surat Muslim Young Graduate society and Begumpura MTB girls school.
On the other hand administrators of most of the Madrassas claim that most of the Madrassas would be operational fully after Ramzaan and refrained from commenting on the issue.
Bharuch ex-MLA Mohammed Fansiwala told TOI that he supports the Deoband appeal because it is better for minority run school children to remain absent than get involved in a controversy.
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Vande Mataram Issue
<b>Deoband washes hands off fatwa</b>
Posted online: Monday, September 04, 2006 at 1726 hours IST
Updated: Monday, September 04, 2006 at 1737 hours IST
Deoband, September 4: Steering clear on the Vande Mataram issue, a leading centre of Islamic learning -- the Darul Uloom Deoband -- has said it has no 'role to play' in the controversy.
The Darul Uloom Deoband also said that it has been dragged into it 'unnecessarily'.
Deoband on Monday categorically stated that it had not issued any fatwa (decree) on Vande Mataram and had also not directed Muslim children to skip classes on September 7 to protest against its mandatory recitation in the BJP-ruled states.
Accusing 'communal forces' of maligning the 130-year-old Islamic institution, Mohatamim (rector) Maulana Margoobur Rehman said that it had neither issued any fatwa nor appeal on this issue after the Human Resource Development Ministry issued a directive to all schools to recite the national song on September 7 which marks the centenary of the song.
"The Darul Uloom is being unnecessarily dragged into the Vande Mataram controversy," he said, adding that Muslims are true patriots and there was no need to questions their patriotism.
Terming it unfair to target the ulema of the Darul Uloom, Deoband without ascertaining facts on the issue, the Maulana said they did not wish to be party to any 'political controversy'.
"Ours is purely religious centre, concentrating on the teachings of Islam, which also supports peace and harmony," he added.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Arif criticises law board fatwa on Vande Mataram </b>
Pioneer.com
Staff Reporter | New Delhi
Senior BJP leader Arif Mohammad Khan has criticised political leaders who allow the Muslim Personal Law Board to hold the country to ransom. Speaking in a discussion held at the Faculty of Arts of Delhi University over the controversy surrounding national song Vande Mataram, Arif targeted the board for imposing its decision on the community since its formation.
Raising objections against the Board issuing fatwa against those who would sing Vande Mataram on September 7, the senior BJP leader said, "I request people not to give respectability and credibility to those who raise separatist voices. Who has given the right to these people to declare 'fatwa' against those who wish to sing the National Song? They have no right to do so. Vande Mataram and Jana Gana Mana have been the national song of this country since the formation of the constituent assembly. How can these people ignore this fact?"
Article 51 A (a) of the Constitution says that every citizen of this country should abide by the constitution and respect its institution, be it the National Anthem or the National Song. Highlighting the fact Arif said, "These organisations have been engaged in misleading the Muslim community. If the Board has any objection to the national song, why is it imposing it on the whole community."
According to <b>Arif, Mohammad Ali Jinnah objected to the singing of Vande Mataram as he felt that it was a conspiracy of the Indian National Congress to force a Hindu country on the Muslim community</b>. <span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>"Jinnah in 1938 had said that the problem of independence cannot be solved unless the Congress intends to solve the issues that encourage communal thoughts. Post-independence, the Muslim Personal Law Board has been following the ideology of Jinnah."</span>
Recalling the interview of the then chairman of the Muslim Personal Law Board in 1985 in Nadwa to a newspaper Tamir-e-hayat "Muslim ko apna vajan is mulq mein saabit karna hoga. Kisi bhi kaum ka vatan tab mahan hota hai jab wo nafe ke alaawa nuksan bhi pahucha sakta ho."
The senior BJP leader said, "What can one understand by this statement of the Board's chairman. It is quite obvious that these people are misleading the Muslim community. <b>Its high time that the people of this country think beyond the contemporary party politics and should help in the growth and the prosperity of this country,"</b> added Arif.
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>'True Muslims can't sing Vande Mataram' </b>
[ 5 Sep, 2006 2107hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
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SURAT: "No Muslim can sing 'Vande Mataram' if he considers himself to be a true believer," said <span style='color:red'>Maulana Mahmood Madani, general secretary of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, New Delhi</span>, during his visit to the city on Tuesday. Madani also accused the Gujarat government of not providing support to Muslim educational trusts in the state.
Madani, who is also a member of the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh, from the Rashtriya Lok Dal, was on a visit here to get an idea of flood and relief work done by Surat City Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind (SCJUH).
Madani said, <b>"Any Muslim singing 'Vande Mataram' will not be considered a Muslim." </b>
According to Madani, all madrasas and minority institutions will follow the instructions and will not participate in the singing. "Muslims don't have a problem if it is voluntary, but some political parties are insisting on making it compulsory, which is objectionable," said Madani. "Political parties are raising the issue and creating a controversy for vested interests", he added.
When asked about the low literacy rate among Muslims, particularly in the south Gujarat region and measures taken by Jamiat in this regard, Madani said, "Jamiat and its related organisations are trying to impart education among Muslims, but we are not getting help from the state government in Gujarat. I have received complaints from some minority educational trusts that the state government is not approving grants and expansion plans."
During his visit to the city, Madani visited flood-affected areas like Rander, Adajan Gam, Dhastipura and assessed the relief work done by SCJUH.
<!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo--> That's old K Ram.
Here is the latest version:
SGPC chief does a U-turn on Vande Mataram
[ 6 Sep, 2006 2010hrs ISTPTI ]
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AMRITSAR: Doing a U-turn, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee chief Avtar Singh Makkar on Thursday expressed his inability to prevent the Sikh community from singing the national song Vande Mataram on Thursday.
"How can I prevent Sikhs from singing Vande Mataram. I cannot even prevent SGPC-run schools from recitation of the national song. I alone, am not powerful enough to direct all the members of the community not to sing it," he told.
Makkar in earlier statement issued directions to all schools being run by the SGPC not to sing the Vande Mataram as it only "spreads a particular religion and does not fulfil the aspirations of minorities, including Sikhs, Muslims and Christians".
"It's a conspiracy to extend communalism in the nation," he said.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->"How can I prevent Sikhs from singing Vande Mataram. I cannot even prevent SGPC-run schools from recitation of the national song. I alone, am not powerful enough to direct all the members of the community not to sing it," he told.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This does not seem like a U-Turn to me. It is a subtle appeal which says 'he alone is not powerful enough to dissuade singing Vande Mataram, but needs the whole community to act in unision.'
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' /><!--endemo--> 
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo--> That's old K Ram.
