The fatwa of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind which asked Muslims not to recite the Vande Mataram has come in for sharp criticism from many quarters, including Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid.

“This country has enough problems and some people only want to create more. I don’t know why this issue is being reopened,” Khurshid told mediapersons on the sidelines of the 37th national convention of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India in Hyderabad.

“The issue was resolved over 50 years ago by treating some stanzas as the national song. There is no need to take a fresh look at it,” he said, referring to the fatwa issued by Darul Uloom Deoband which was endorsed by the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind during its national convention at Deoband on November 3. The convention was attended by Home Minister P Chidambaram, which led to a controversy, though the minister said he was not present when the resolution was passed.

“During the Independence movement, national leaders, including leaders of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, resolved that some stanzas of Vande Mataram would be treated as the national song and would be sung voluntarily,” Khurshid said.

In Mumbai, the Shiv Sena organised public singing of Vande Mataram on Thursday and suggested that the tongues of those opposed to the national song be chopped off. The party also signalled its intent to return to hardline Hindutva, with an editorial in the party mouthpiece Saamna attacking the fatwa asking Muslims not to recite Vande Mataram. “Whatever has happened till today has happened, but henceforth the tongues of those who oppose Vande Mataram must be chopped,” said the editorial, adding that those opposed to the song should be asked to leave the country.

... contd.