Hindus, Muslims avoid conflict over 'Vande Mataram'

[Guest guest]

MUMBAI, Sep 7, 2006 (Reuters) - Millions of Indians, including many

minority Muslims, sang the country's national song on the centenary

of its adoption on Thursday, averting a showdown between Hindu and

Muslim groups over the controversial event.

 

Although some Muslims stayed away from schools and colleges where

the song was sung -- saying it was anti-Islamic -- there were no

reports of trouble as anticipated.

 

The controversy was sparked last month after the government asked

all schools, including Islamic seminaries, to get students to sing

the song, which is separate from the national anthem.

 

The move angered Muslim groups who said singing the song "Vande

Mataram" would be against Islam because it had strong connotations

of Hindu deity worship as it reveres India as a holy goddess.

 

The objection saw the government backing down and make the singing

voluntary, but the move gave the opposition Hindu nationalists a

handle to accuse it of encouraging a lack of patriotism.

 

A threat of confrontation with Muslims arose after the Hindu

nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said the five states it

rules would make the singing of the song mandatory and would act

against those who refuse.

 

On Thursday, millions gathered in schools, parks and other public

places to sing the song.

 

Former Prime Minister and top BJP leader Atal Behari Vajpayee sang

it at a party convention, expressing regret that it had led to a

controversy.

 

"Vande Mataram is not just a song for us. It's a statement of

national pride. It's a salute to the motherland by its citizens," he

said.

 

'RESPECT FOR COUNTRY'

 

"Vande Mataram", which translates as "I bow to thee Mother", was the

national slogan during India's independence movement against British

colonial rule.

 

Although it was expected to become the national anthem when Indian

became independent in 1947, similar objections by Muslims saw

another song becoming the anthem.

 

In Orissa -- ruled by a regional ally of the BJP -- thousands of

Muslims joined Hindus in singing "Vande Mataram", saying the song

only praised India and did not have anything to do with religion.

 

"Islam always teaches that one should respect the country where you

live," said Syed Asif Iqbal, a businessman, who sang the song with

thousands of Hindus in a park in Bhubaneswar.

 

Thousands of Muslims also sang the song in Chhattisgarh, but in

Bihar and Jharkhand -- the latter ruled by the BJP -- Muslim

students stayed away from schools.

 

In Mumbai, which has witnessed some of India's worst religious

riots, Muslims refrained from singing the national song and instead

sang another patriotic song that says India is the best in the world.

 

"We sang 'Saare Jahaan Se Achcha' which we think is much more

appropriate and acceptable to everyone," said Maulana Mohammed

Faruque Azam, chairman of a minority forum in Maharashtra.

 

Television networks showed Muslim boys wearing white prayer caps and

girls with head scarves singing "Vande Mataram" in Madhya Pradesh.

Muslims in Assam also sang the song.

 

Hindus account for more than 80 percent of India's 1.1 billion

population. Muslims make up about 13 percent, the third largest

Islamic community after Indonesia and Pakistan.

 

(By Krittivas Mukherjee. Additional reporting by Sanjaya Jena in

BHUBANESWAR, Sujeet Kumar in RAIPUR, Bappa Majumdar in KOLKATA and

Manish Prasad in PATNA)

 

SOURCE: © Reuters India 2006. All rights reserved.

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