'Vande Mataram' not an issue for Muslims

Delhis’ Shahi Imam may have appealed to Muslims to stay away from Anna Hazare and his anti corruption brigade, but they are not deterred by his views.

The Shahi Imam, Ahmed Bukhari, had said that Hazare and his supporters have isolated Muslims through their movement and that the war cry of Vande Mataram and Bharat Matha Ki Jai are against the tenets of Islam.

“We respect the Imam, but he is not an authority that we have to strictly adhere to,” said Ahmed Danish, a lead supporter of the movement at Freedom Park in Bangalore. “It is my choice whether or not to say Vande Mataram while protesting. I choose not to say it. Just because you say Vande Mataram or you are in a crowd of people who say it does not make you an RSS activist,” he said.

Meanwhile, prominent maulanas and Islamic scholars of UP also reacted strongly to Bukhari’s statement. Leading Sunni cleric Maulana Abul Irfan Mian Firangi Mahli and well known Shia scholar and cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawaad said that since Hazare was not forcing Vande Mataram on anyone, there was nothing wrong if Muslims joined the campaign launched by the social activist.

“The issue is not about Vande Mataram but corruption. I see absolutely no reason why Muslims should be dissuaded from joining this campaign when we all know how corruption is eating into our system,” Maulana Firangi Mahli said.

— With agency inputs