Left refuses to take sides on Vande Mataram
As the BJP and a section among the Muslim community slug it out over the Vande Mataram issue, the Left has struck a muted note.
By TNN |
NEW DELHI: As the BJP and a section among the Muslim community slug it out over the Vande Mataram issue, the Left has struck a muted note. The CPM, which took the issue off the political terrain, said the decision on how to celebrate the centenary anniversary of the national song should be left to the states.
The CPM and CPI see the issue as a battle between fundamentalists and have been trying to play it down, saying it is a “non-issue“. Both the Muslim clergy and the BJP have come under attack from the Left over the singing of Vande Mataram in educational institutions on September 7, when centenary celebrations of the song come to an end.
While the BJP has made signing of the song on September 7 mandatory in educational institutions in states ruled by it, the clergy has taken the opposite stand, refusing to sing the song. Politburo member and Rajya Sabha MP Brinda Karat attacked the Muslim clergy for their opposition to Vande Mataram and the BJP’s stand on the issue. “Is this an issue? We are opposed to the BJP communalising it as well as the Muslim fundamentalists’ stand, “ CPI’s D Raja said. However, the Left’s plea may fall on deaf ears as the chorus of political voices on the issue gains momentum ahead of September 7.
The Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid Sayed Ahmed Bukhari has asked Muslims not to send their children to school if Vande Mataram is made compulsory on that day. The BJP, which has used it’s favourite phrase of ‘Muslim appeasement’ to accuse the ruling alliance, has decided to make Vande Mataram a poll issue in Uttar Pradesh. Meanwhile, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has apparently rejected the BJP’s request to allow 200 Muslims from its minority cell to sing Vande Mataram in front of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue in the Parliament compound. As per rules, outsiders cannot be permitted to perform at such functions in Parliament precincts.
The UPA and the opposition had locked horns over the issue in Parliament, disrupting house proceedings, with the BJP and Shiv Sena alleging that human resource development minister Arjun Singh had shifted his stand on singing of Vande Mataram in schools to appease the minority community. The Left had dubbed it as disruption of the House on “flimsy grounds“.
The CPM and CPI see the issue as a battle between fundamentalists and have been trying to play it down, saying it is a “non-issue“. Both the Muslim clergy and the BJP have come under attack from the Left over the singing of Vande Mataram in educational institutions on September 7, when centenary celebrations of the song come to an end.
While the BJP has made signing of the song on September 7 mandatory in educational institutions in states ruled by it, the clergy has taken the opposite stand, refusing to sing the song. Politburo member and Rajya Sabha MP Brinda Karat attacked the Muslim clergy for their opposition to Vande Mataram and the BJP’s stand on the issue. “Is this an issue? We are opposed to the BJP communalising it as well as the Muslim fundamentalists’ stand, “ CPI’s D Raja said. However, the Left’s plea may fall on deaf ears as the chorus of political voices on the issue gains momentum ahead of September 7.
The Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid Sayed Ahmed Bukhari has asked Muslims not to send their children to school if Vande Mataram is made compulsory on that day. The BJP, which has used it’s favourite phrase of ‘Muslim appeasement’ to accuse the ruling alliance, has decided to make Vande Mataram a poll issue in Uttar Pradesh. Meanwhile, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has apparently rejected the BJP’s request to allow 200 Muslims from its minority cell to sing Vande Mataram in front of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue in the Parliament compound. As per rules, outsiders cannot be permitted to perform at such functions in Parliament precincts.
The UPA and the opposition had locked horns over the issue in Parliament, disrupting house proceedings, with the BJP and Shiv Sena alleging that human resource development minister Arjun Singh had shifted his stand on singing of Vande Mataram in schools to appease the minority community. The Left had dubbed it as disruption of the House on “flimsy grounds“.
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