This is what the Muslims are objecting to. In other words, the salutations offered to Mother India by singing the first two stanzas would in fact amount to paying obeisance to Hindu goddesses. Taking all things into consideration, therefore, the committee recommended that, wherever Vande Mataram is sung at national gatherings, only the first two stanzas should be sung, with perfect freedom to the organisers to sing any other song of an unobjectionable character, in addition to, or in the place of, the Vande Mataram song." (Quoted by AG Noorani in the Frontline, Jan 2-15, 1999).īased on this resolution, it is argued that Muslims should sing the first two stanzas because there is nothing wrong in bowing before one's motherland.īut the first two stanzas cannot be seen in isolation by detaching them from the main song, particularly when the "motherland" referred to in those stanzas has been clearly identified as Durga and Lakshmi in the fourth stanza. While the committee has taken note of such objection insofar as it has intrinsic value, the committee wishes to point out that the modern evolution of the use of the song as part of national life is of infinitely greater importance than its setting in a historical novel before the national movement had taken shape. In October 1937, when the Congress Working Committee met in Kolkata under his presidentship, it adopted a resolution which said: The committee recognise the validity of the objection raised by Muslim friends to certain parts of the song.
The religious predicament of the Muslims was understood in the right spirit by Jawaharlal Nehru. Therefore, just as one cannot force non-Muslims to recite the Quran in their gatherings, it would be most unfair to force the Muslims to violate their scriptural injunctions in the name of patriotism. This goes against the concept of tawheed (oneness of God) according to which a Muslim cannot supplicate to anyone except God. When a Muslim sings these words he is forced to equate his country with the Hindu goddesses Durga and Lakshmi, thereby deifying the land of India.
In this context, those opposed to the Muslim point of view should know that Vande Mataram contains verses that are in direct conflict with the beliefs of Islam.įor instance, the fourth stanza of the song addresses motherland India as, "Thou art Durga, Lady and Queen, with her hands that strike and her swords of sheen, Thou art Lakshmi lotus-throned…." In fact, ascribing divinity to even Prophet Mohammad is considered an act of blasphemy negating the very purpose of Islam, that is, to promote the concept of unity of mankind through the worship of a common creator. The Muslim viewpoint is that Islam, being a monotheist religion, forbids the apotheosis of any deity, animate or inanimate, except God, the supreme creator. Hence, it becomes imperative to analyse the objections raised by the Muslim community against the recital of Vande Mataram. The refusal of the Muslims to sing this song seems to have angered the Hindutva ideologues, who, without giving them an opportunity to explain their position, have accused them of being anti-national. The controversy over the singing of Vande Mataram has once again threatened to divide the country on communal lines.