'Unconstitutional, undemocratic': AIMPLB slams govt's move on 'Vande Mataram'

With the Union Cabinet giving Vande Mataram the same statutory protection as the national anthem Jana Gana Mana, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board on Thursday said the move was a direct violation of constitutional rights, including religious freedom, and demanded its withdrawal.

With the Union Cabinet giving 'Vande Mataram' the same statutory protection as the national anthem 'Jana Gana Mana', the All India Muslim Personal Law Board on Thursday said the move was a direct violation of constitutional rights, including religious freedom, and demanded its withdrawal. The Union Cabinet has approved a proposal to amend the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971 to make any obstruction to the singing of the national song 'Vande Mataram' a punishable offence. This gives 'Vande Mataram' the same statutory protection as the national anthem 'Jana Gana Mana'. The Act, at present, protects the national anthem, the national flag and the Constitution from any insults. The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has ''strongly'' rejected the decision of the Union Cabinet to accord 'Vande Mataram' a status equal to the national anthem 'Jana Gana Mana' to make all six stanzas of the song compulsory, and to mandate its recitation before the national anthem in all government and educational institutions, the Board said in a statement. The AIMPLB claimed that the move was a ''direct violation'' of the basic spirit of the Constitution of India, religious freedom, secular values, and the historic decisions of the Constituent Assembly. It demanded that the government immediately withdraw this decision. AIMPLB spokesperson S Q R Ilyas said that the Cabinet's decision is not only ''unconstitutional and undemocratic'', but also contrary to the religious and cultural diversity and constitutional ethos of the country. He stated that a secular state cannot impose the religious concepts or beliefs of one community upon all citizens by force. Several stanzas of 'Vande Mataram' contain invocations and glorification of Goddess Durga and other deities, which are in direct conflict with the Islamic doctrine of the absolute oneness of God, Ilyas said. He pointed out that in 1937, following the advice of Rabindranath Tagore, the Congress had itself decided that only the first two stanzas of 'Vande Mataram' should be used, since the later stanzas were religious in character and could not be acceptable to all sections of society. Keeping this reality in view, the Constituent Assembly in 1950 also accepted only the first two stanzas as the national song, he said. ''In such a situation, making all six stanzas compulsory is not only a departure from the historical consensus but also a dangerous and provocative step,'' he said. ''The government must refrain from exploiting sensitive religious issues for political purposes and avoid decisions that undermine communal harmony and national cohesion,'' Ilyas said.