[Assam] A fatwa against Vande Mataram?

[Ram Sarangapani]

Not that it makes any difference, ARR, from what I have heard, is a Hindu,
but just took the name ARR - I guess to make a statement in the music
industry.

On 6/12/06, umesh sharma <jaipurschool at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>  A R Rahman ( a muslim) made a top hit song video  " Vande Mataram"
> http://ww.smashits.com/ads/samples/hindustandec2002frame.html
>
> Umesh
>
>
> *Ram Sarangapani <assamrs at gmail.com>* wrote:
>
>  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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>
>
>
> Umesh Sharma
> 5121 Lackawanna ST
> College Park, MD 20740
>
> 1-202-215-4328 [Cell Phone]
>
> Ed.M. - International Education Policy
> Harvard Graduate School of Education,
> Harvard University,
> Class of 2005
>
> weblog: http://jaipurschool.bihu.in/
>
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