India Behind The Lens (News Centre)

Recently, a BSP MP walked out of Parliament while our revered National Song, ‘Vande Mataram’ was being played. Not only did he portray an outlandish behavior by disrespecting the National Song, but also the reason which he gave of doing so were too lame in nature. The Constitution of India awards its citizens the Fundamental Right to practice any Religion, anywhere in the country, but even the Fundamental Rights Come with ‘Reasonable Restrictions’. When it comes to country, it must be ensured that country must be placed above any religion or caste. Placing country above religion is more than just about the ‘Greater Good’. Before I get into why not singing ‘Vande Mataram’ must be treated as good as sedition, I would 1st try to clarify that Singing ‘Vande Mataram’ is not against any specific religion including Islam and how the Contractors of Religion have taken it upon themselves to create issues out of non issues.

1. Islam propagates that Muslims must believe in just 1 God, Allah. Quran also says that while one should believe in only 1 God, it must also respect the Gods of other religions. So while, you must believe in Allah, there is no harm in respecting or revering others. It is not that by respecting, you start believing in more than 1 God

2. ‘Vande Mataram’ simply means, I bow to you my mother, my country. Nowhere does Vande Mataram ask you to believe in more than 1 God. It just asks you to revere the country as if it is your mother. The country is PERSONIFIED as your mother

3. As mentioned in Point 2 above, Vande Mataram is about a Country, personified as mother, it is not about worshipping any Hindu God/Goddess. Vande Mataram is not ‘Saraswati Vandana’, in which Goddess Saraswati is hailed. So singing Vande Mataram is not against Islam. I would still have understood, if Muslims had any issues singing ‘Saraswati Vandana’.

4. Prophet of Islam himself asks to respect one’s mother. More so a true Muslim is supposed to follow only 1 person as an ideal in his/her life. This is true for Muslim of any age, any region and any generation. That person is the holy prophet Mohammad. A Muslim must believe in Allah and follow only Prophet Mohammad for guidance. So those Muslims who are following hate filled Communal, intolerant Mullahs are disregarding this tenet. Communal Intolerant Mullahs are merely contractors of religion and Muslims would do well to not be misguided by them.

Therefore, it is fair to assume that, singing ‘Vande Mataram’ is not against Islam or any other religion. I have quite a few Muslim friends who proudly sing Vande Mataram and are still true Muslims in my view. However there would still be people infected with Radical mindset of Wahabi School of Propagation who consider that singing, Vande Mataram is anti Islamic. I would now take on those radical fundamentalists.

These Radical Wahabi Muslims portray a behavior which is commonly seen in all those who choose to act Muslim selectively and as per convenience. I would now list down the occasions where they act liberal Muslims and other occasions where they become Fundamentalists.

1. I am a liberal Muslim when, I don’t want to offer Namaz 5 times a day. I can’t follow everything that is written in Quran
2. I am a liberal Muslim when, I have to offer donations to the poor, instead of spending lavishly. I can’t follow everything that is written in Quran
3. I am a liberal Muslim when, I have to watch pornography. I can’t follow everything that is written in Quran
4. I am a liberal Muslim when, I have to commit adultery. I can’t follow everything that is written in Quran
5. I am a liberal Muslim when, I have to consume booze (alcohol), drugs etc. I can’t follow everything that is written in Quran
6. I am a liberal Muslim when, I have to make fun of other religions. I can’t follow everything that is written in Quran
7. I am a liberal Muslim when I gamble in stocks; earn undue interest by exploiting poor. I can’t follow everything that is written in Quran
8. I am a liberal Muslim when I have to wear fashionable clothes, party hard etc. I can’t follow everything that is written in Quran
9. I am a liberal Muslim. I cannot live my life in entire austerity as Prophet Mohammad

The same set of people become fundamental and when it comes to negative things

1. I am a true Muslim. I believe in only 1 God. Singing Vande Mataram is offensive
2. I am a true Muslim. For me Arabia is more close to my heart where no one has visited the place for generations and India is a foreign land where generations of mine have spend their Life
3. I am a true Muslim, when I care about problems of Muslims in Myanmar, Gaza etc but don’t give a damn to the citizens suffering in my own country just because they may be Non Muslims.
4. I am a true Muslim when it comes to Vandalizing properties in India, over a stupid, distasteful movie made in America
5. I am a true Muslim. I love Arabia more even when I am treated as a 3rd rate citizen there and I hate India even though I am treated better than the majority here

One can argue, why would singing Vande Mataram for a Muslim be given so much importance? Does, not singing Vande Mataram by a Muslim make him unpatriotic? Isn’t it just a symbolic gesture and must be immaterial in larger scheme of things? To them my simple answer is: I agree that singing Vande Mataram doesn’t make you a true Indian but not singing it, won’t make you a true Muslim either. I have shown above how many Muslims stop acting Muslim when as per their convenience. Such a behavior portrays Opportunism rather than love for Islam.

Finally, If I am to believe that even a pure, austere Muslim who follows everything as per Quran and disregards the arguments presented by me that singing Vande Mataram is not anti Islamic, should he be allowed to not sing it and get away with it? My answer still remains a firm ‘No’. If anyone is so intolerant to singing Vande Matarm and prefers keeping Religion above the country, then it must also be well known to us, that our biggest enemy is a country which misuses the name of Islam and calls itself an Islamic nation. Though I don’t believe it to be an Islamic nation as it is miles away from Islam, most of the Muslim population in India believes it to be so. Secondly various deadly terrorist organizations such as SIMI, IM, and LET etc also misuse the name of Islam and fool Indian Muslims into supporting them. So if a Muslim, keeps religion above country, why wouldn’t one be suspicious of him supporting Pakistan or these Terrorist organizations using the concept of Ummat-Al-Islamiya. ‘Ummat’ is a communal concept in Islam which divides the world into Muslims and Non Muslims. Whole Muslim population is clubbed under Ummat and all Muslims are considered to be in one SuperNation. So if a person is intolerant enough to disregard country over religion, why would he not support these entities which belong to his Ummat? Hypothetically, if India is in a war with Pakistan, what stops a sane person from thinking that his own countrymen would be against him during a war, which would ultimately be a big threat to the country’s internal security? These are not generalizations. Any normal citizen of India is aware of the kind of support terrorist organizations like IM, SIMI etc enjoy from the local population or the kind of Hero worship, dreaded terrorist Afzal Guru received post his Hanging or the kind of support Pakistan receives in Cricket and Hockey matches at select venues in India.

Culture, Security, and a lot of other reasons as explained above imply that it is really important to not disregard Vande Mataram. It must be made compulsory to sing/respect in schools, offices and other institutions and those who oppose it must be charged with sedition. It would not guarantee the country’s safety, but it would definitely prove to be the 1st step towards attaining True Secularism and Religious integrity of the nation which would ultimately result in Robust Internal Security and Universal Brotherhood across religions.

Author : Suyash Bharadwaj | Follow the writer twitter.com/Suyash75
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Disclaimer: The author is a commentator on issues of national interest. These are his personal views and do not necessarily reflect IBTL's opinion.
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