Vande Mataram should be made optional, says Tharoor

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Union minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor, who has a penchant for controversy, has called for making the national song, 'Vande Mataram', optional.

"We've had an unseemly controversy in north about the national song, Vande Mataram. I've always tried to explain to people, yes, the national anthem and the national flag stand high in our Constitution. There are laws protecting them. The national song, like the national sport, is optional. Sing it out of respect for the motherland. Do not sing it if you do not want to. No one forces you," Tharoor said addressing a gathering at the CSI Christ Church here on November 15. The event was in connection with 150 years of the church.

Tharoor's comments gain significance in Kerala in light of the furore over Jamiat-e-Ulema Hind's fatwa against Vande Mataram being sung by Muslims. According to clerics, certain verses of the song composed by late Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay were against Islam's tenets. The BJP was quick to slam Tharoor.