Maa Tujhe Salaam!

Muslim concerns were accommodated by the Congress way back in 1937 by abridging the song only to its first two stanzas, thus leaving out subsequent ones that liken Mother India to Durga.

Four weeks ago, I wrote a column titled 8216;Twin threats: Bushism and Islamist fascism8217;. Since my column also gets published in Prajawani, a leading Kannada daily, among the readers who sent their comments was Hafizurrahaman from Badami. The letter, written in Kannada my mother tongue, was appreciative of my views, especially my assertion that terrorism, though inspired by extremist Islamist ideology, should not be equated with Islam, which I believe is a religion of peace and universal brotherhood. What struck me as curious, however, was how he signed off the letter. 8216;Salaamagalondige with salaams8217;, he wrote, instead of 8216;Vandanegalondige with vandanas8217;, the term normally used in Kannada. It made no difference, since both mean the same thing8212;8216;with regards8217;. If a Muslim Kannadiga, under the influence of Urdu, wishes to use salaam instead of vandana, so be it, I said to myself. After all, hadn8217;t my dear friend Bharat Bala, who teamed up with A R Rehman some years ago to produce a spectacularly popular music video on Vande Mataram, use the line 8216;Maa Tujhe Salaam to convey the emotion of the national song?

I remembered this as I watched We The People programme on NDTV last Sunday on the unfortunate controversy over Vande Mataram, which has surfaced yet again. Two Muslim participants explained their objection to the song by saying what a section of the Muslim community has been saying since pre-Partition years. 8216;8216;Islam does not permit idolatry.8217;8217; 8216;8216;Vande Mataram portrays Mother India as a Hindu goddess.8217;8217; 8216;8216;Islam forbids us to worship anyone except Allah.8217;8217; I couldn8217;t help telling myself: 8216;8216;Why are they deliberately obfuscating the matter?8217;8217; What objection can any Indian, irrespective of their religious affiliation, have to the first two verses of the song, which are nothing but a reverential eulogy of Madar-e-Watan, a proudly used term in Urdu? Who says vandana means worship and where does the national song require Muslims to worship Mother India or any Hindu goddess? Did Rehman, a devout Muslim, commit shirk an unforgivable sin in Islam since it means 8216;setting up partners in worship with Allah8217; by singing Vande Mataram? If there is so much noise about non-existent Hindu symbolism in India8217;s national song, what about Pakistan8217;s national anthem that has obvious Muslim symbolism 8216;Crescent and Star8217;, 8216;Citadel of Faith8217;? Can the Hindus, who have been reduced to a microscopic minority, and Christians object to its singing in Pakistan?

Here is Subramania Bharati8217;s Tamil adaptation of Vande Mataram, which is commonly sung in Tamil Nadu without anyone objecting to it. Is there any Hindu idolatry in the following inspirational lines?

Vande Mataram enbom

Engal manila thayai Vanangudum enbom

Jaathi mathangalai parom

Uyar Janmamiththesathil eithinarayin8230;

We chant Vande Mataram, and/ Pay obeisance to Mother Land/ We see no caste or communal barriers/ All born in this sacred land are high-born.

The minority Muslim opinion that deems Vande Mataram un-Islamic is raising pre-Partition objections because it is still guided by the pre-Partition separatist mindset. The Muslim concerns were accommodated by the Indian National Congress, which was the leading force in India8217;s freedom movement, way back in 1937 by abridging the song only to its first two stanzas, thus leaving out subsequent ones that liken Mother India to Durga. And even after the Muslim League, which had objected to Vande Mataram, succeeded in its communal agenda of carving out Pakistan as a separate homeland for Muslims, our Constituent Assembly reaffirmed its faith in India8217;s secular character and accorded the national song status only to the abridged version of Bankim Chandra8217;s immortal composition.

To those sectarian Muslims, and their supporters in the pseudo-secular camp, who even today question why Vande Mataram was gien any kind of national status at all in independent India, it is enough to let Pandit Nehru answer them. Participating in the Constituent Assembly debate, he said: 8216;8216;Vande Mataram is obviously and indisputably the premier national song of India, with a great historical tradition, and intimately connected with our struggle for freedom. That position it is bound to retain and no other song can displace it. It represents the position and poignancy of that struggle8230;8217;8217;

Thus, the debate over Vande Mataram was clinched once and for all8212;first in 1937 and again in 1950. Sadly, exclusivist Muslims remain unreconciled to it, which is unsurprising. What is surprising, however, is the unwillingness of today8217;s Congress leaders to defend the national song. Its supreme leader is characteristically silent. She probably thinks that pandering to Muslim fanaticism makes better electoral sense than defending a hoary national legacy.

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The BJP is right in doing what the Congress ought to have done. But it must guard against the temptation of espousing the cause of Vande Mataram for electoral benefits. For what is sacred in our national movement must not be sullied by narrow political considerations. It should eschew shrillness and coercion in its campaign. For example, its ally Shiv Sena has put up hoardings in Mumbai that proclaim: 8216;8216;Hindustan mein rehna hai to Vande Mataram kehna hoga If you want to live in India, you must sing Vande Mataram.8217;8217; This kind of offensive and provocative language is as unhelpful to national integration as the decree of those Muslim leaders who tell their fellow-religionists not to sing Vande Mataram. A message rooted in love, reason and inclusive nationalism is enough to convince most of our Muslim brethren that they cannot8212;and should not8212;exclude themselves from according the national song the recognition and honour that it rightfully deserves. Equally, it8217;s the duty of Muslim intellectuals to widely affirm that there is no contradiction between devotion to Islam and respecting national sentiments.