Bhopal, Feb 14 (IANS) Even as the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Madhya Pradesh government has announced the implementation of the Union Home Ministry’s directives on the mandatary recitation of the national song – ‘Vande Mataram’, the leaders of the Muslim community, including religious personalities, have strongly objected to the decision.

The religious priests of the Muslim community from different parts of Madhya Pradesh have started opposing, terming the Centre’s new guidelines as “unconstitutional and contrary to religious freedom.” Clerics, speaking to IANS, echoed the line of the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB).

Ujjain’s Imam Maulana Syed Nasir Ali Nadvi, talking about the recitation of the ‘Vande Mataram’, said that anyone who reads it agrees to worship the motherland. Therefore, those who believe in Islam cannot accept this. Islam does not permit the worship of anyone other than Allah.

“It is explicitly stated in the national song Vande Mataram that we worship the motherland. Therefore, Islam cannot permit us to worship anyone along with Allah, or to worship anyone other than Allah, or to include anyone in our prayer system,” Maulana Syed Nasir Ali Nadvi said, talking to IANS on Saturday.

Similarly, when IANS spoke to Bhopal’s (City) Quazi Maulana Syed Mushtaq Ali Nadwi over the phone, he said, “My views are the same as what All-India Muslim Personal Law Board has said.”

Political representatives from the Muslim community have also opposed the Centre’s new guidelines of making the recitation of all six stanzas of the ‘Vande Mataram’ mandatory.

Congress MLA Arif Masood, who is considered a strong voice of the Muslim community in Madhya Pradesh’s politics, said that the matter is not about the respect of the national anthem but about religious freedom guaranteed under Article 25 of the Constitution.

“India is a democratic country. There is no dispute about respecting Vande Mataram. The concern is with certain lines that, in our view, restrict religious freedom,” Masood, who is an MLA from Bhopal Centre Assembly constituency, said.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Thursday announced that the Centre’s directive mandating the singing of all six stanzas of the national song ‘Vande Mataram’ at official functions is being “implemented with immediate effect.”

“Under the leadership of illustrious Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji, the Home Ministry has decided to respectfully sing six stanzas of ‘Vande Mataram’ before the national anthem ‘Jana Gana Mana’. We are implementing this in Madhya Pradesh,” Chief Minister Yadav said in a statement.

–IANS

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