India: Darul Uloom Deoband asks Muslims to not recite Vande Mataram

[Naveed Yaseen]

* Darul Uloom Deoband demands govt stop interference in minorities affairs

NEW DELHI: Darul Uloom Deoband has asked Muslims in India to stop reciting Vande Mataram.

Concluding a three-day conference on Tuesday held in Deoband, the Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Hind declared the act unislamic. Home Minister P Chidambaram was also present. The conference adopted 25 resolutions demanding the government stop interfering in affairs of minorities.

“The fatwa by the Darul Uloom opposing recitation of Vande Mataram is correct,” said one of the resolutions.

“The judgment by the Supreme Court also clearly states that nobody can be compelled to sing Vande Mataram,” said the resolution.

“The issue should not be raised to cause communal discord and threat to law and order,” the resolution stated.

It also condemned the exploitation of Vande Mataram to target Muslims in India.

“Patriotism does not require singing of Vande Mataram,” the resolution stated, adding that “the act violated monotheism, that is the foundation of Islam”, the resolution said. The party opposed the government’s plan to set up a Central Madrassa Board, saying it was “another attempt by the government to interfere in the madrassa education system.” The home minister said, “We cannot view Islam as an alien faith because this is the land of your forefathers, this is the land of your birth. It is a matter of our pride that Islam exists in India along with other major religions”.

“The demolition of the Babri Masjid was a manifestation of religious fanaticism and an act of extreme prejudice, he said. app

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...2009_pg7_4