Transport minister and senior Shiv Sena leader Diwakar Raote asked those who felt awkward about the national song to "quit the country."
A political war of words broke out in Maharashtra over the Madras High Court's order making Vande Mataram mandatory in educational institutions and offices. While BJP law-maker Raj Purohit demanded that the Maharashtra government follow suit with a similar diktat, All India Majlis e Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) legislator Waris Pathan dramatically threatened he would not sing the national song "even if a knife was put on his neck or a gun to his head."
Not to be undone, Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA Abu Asim Azmi said said "true Muslims" would not comply with an any attempt to make it mandatory even if "they were deported or sent to jail." Transport minister and senior Shiv Sena leader Diwakar Raote asked those who felt awkward about the national song to "quit the country."
"The Madras High Court has made it mandatory for Vande Mataram to be sung all schools, colleges, government and private offices and factories... Vande Mataram was the slogan of revolutionaries, the then Congress leaders and freedom fighters during the Independence movement. This included Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Parsis," said BJP legislator Raj Purohit.
Purohit, who represents Colaba in the assembly, added he would send a letter to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday seeking that the Maharashtra government too follow suit and make Vande Mataram compulsory in all educational instututions, establishments and cinema halls.
"Today, some people who do not understand the real meaning of Islam are opposing (Vande Mataram) unnecessarily," said Purohit, adding that it should be mandatory across the country.
However, Azmi opposed moves to make Vande Mataram compulsory. "Those who want to sing Vande Mataram can do so... but true Muslims like me who abide by Islam will never do so," he said, adding that they would not say it even if they were "deported to another country or jailed."
"We respect Vande Mataram and will never insult it. But it should not be made compulsory... the Constitution can be amended, but Allah's Constitution can never be changed," said Azmi, adding that in Islam, only Allah was worshipped.
"We will not utter these words," warned Pathan, adding that it was un-Constitutional to make Vande Mataram mandatory. "My religion permits me to worship Allah and not the motherland though I have love in my heart for my country," he said.
Meanwhile, Raote said those who felt "ashamed" to sing Vande Mataram should leave the country. He rued that some legislators did not sing Vande Mataram when it was played in the legislature and pointed to it being a rallying point during the freedom struggle.
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