[Assam] A fatwa against Vande Mataram?

[Ram Sarangapani]

Religious jingoism does indeed know no bounds.
Religious leaders ought to know how to separate religion from nationalism.
--Ram
**
*Sentinel Editorial*
*Vande Mataram!
*I t is all about glorifying the motherland where one
is born and for which the patriotic soul would go to the gallows. It is
about the spirit of a nation whose tolerance has always been put to cruel
tests — by the absolutists whose hallmark is belligerence. It is about a
tradition which requires one to spiritualize the contours of religion; the
core being dharma in a universally quintessential sense. So when one says
''vande mataram!'' and asserts the spirit and tradition of Bharat, he or she
does what patriotism — the essence of any independent nation — requires it
to be. Then what is the import of the fatwa issued by Islamic clerics in
Hyderabad against vande mataram? What does it mean for a nation whose
secular essence has to do with not only modern political theory but also the
age-old Vedantic and Upanishadic culture? It is not about Hindutva as a
political ideology; political Hinduism has a clear disconnect with Hinduism
as a way of life, spiritual and transcendental. It is simply disgusting, to
say the least, that in a country where the 85 per cent Hindus do not mind
the non-existence of any Hindu state in the world and do not see reasons to
promote any militant brand of Hinduism, barring an insignificant — and
derided — group, Islamic clerics, that too in a historically rich city like
Hyderabad, should ask Muslim parents not to send their children to schools
where vande mataram is recited. But what is the objection? It is that the
song, composed by one of the luminaries of Bengali literature during the
freedom movement, goes against the teachings of Islam. Well, the connotation
intrinsic to any patriotic song like vande mataram is that the motherland —
in the instant case, India — is supreme. What is more unbelievable, and it
is not for the first time that vande mataram finds itself mired in
controversy, is that even progressive Muslims find it hard to come to terms
with the spirit of the song. Kamal Farouqui, a member of the Muslim Personal
Law Board, says: ''Singing vande mataram is against the teachings of Islam
and I will not sing it.'' There is a simple fact, though — overlooked by
religious chauvinists who may be of any hue. The invoking of the spirit of
vande mataram is equivalent to invoking the divine in one's own motherland.
Indian tradition, definitely a concentrated pattern of diverse thoughts and
ideas, requires one to worship the motherland. That goes for nationalism
which, when fused with the holistic heritage of the land, translates to
internationalism. There can be no second thought about it; for, a song like
vande mataram does not stand for, or promote, any religion. What it stands
for and unfailingly promotes is nationalism — not just cultural but
encompassing the pluralist orders of the day, and so absolutely timeless at
that. What the Islamic clerics have failed to realize is that vande mataram
cannot go against the teachings of any religion. Yes, it is another matter
that anything could go against anything under the sky only when the
cardinality of any faith is deliberately distorted and moulded anew to suit
politico-religious jingoism. It is time, then, that the liberal Muslim voice
came to the front to tell the clerics that it is not their business to
meddle with a patriotic song of the country. Can we hope so?
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