No controversy should be raised over Vande Mataram: Cong

Hours after BJP sought an apology from home minister P Chidambaram over the Vande Mataram issue, Congress today said the matter is a sensitive one involving religious sentiments and no controversy should be raked up over it.

"This is a very sensitive issue. It is our national song. And there are also religious sentiments attached. Keeping in mind all these facts, the issue should not be made controversial," party spokesperson Shakeel Ahmad told reporters here.

He was responding to queries regarding Jamiat-Ulema-e-Hind's resolution at Deoband yesterday asking members of the Muslim community not to recite 'Vande Mataram' on the grounds that some verses of the national song are against the tenets of Islam.

This was one of the 25 resolutions passed at its 30th general session in Deoband in the presence of the home minister yesterday. Chidambaram today issued a clarification saying the resolution was not passed in his presence and he was not aware of any fatwa against Vande Mataram, women's reservation and television.
   
However, BJP has sought an apology from Chidambaram saying it was surprised that the "Home Minister of a country where terrorism, separatism and naxalism are at a peak was not aware that he was going to attend a programme where our national song Vande Mataram was insulted".