Should I Relocate to Pakistan?
Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray indicated that “If you don’t want to salute the motherland, then whom do you salute? What is the shame in saluting Bharat mata? Those who don’t want to salute Bharat mata should go to Pakistan or Bangladesh. There is no place for such traitors in India”. Thackeray made these statements in response to the fatwa issued by Jamaiat-Ulema-e-Hind which prohibits Muslims from singing the song Vande Mataram.
I have heard similar sentiments expressed by many Indians whenever the Hindu community feels threatened by acts by the minority that they feel are anti-national or disrespectful. One of my friends often ask me why some Muslims in the crowd support Pakistan when an India-Pakistan cricket match is held in India. Some of these people might be misguided or simply misinformed. Some Muslims might think that they are better off in an Islamic country. But countries like Pakistan (first Islamic state), Iran, Saudi Arabia and Iraq are proof that your rights are better protected in a pluralistic society and not in a fundamentalist society. The question to my friend is why do Indians who live in Britain, Australia and South Africa wave the Indian flag when the Indian cricket team plays in these countries? Human behavior patterns are complex. We are capable of having multiple and often contradicting loyalties.
Overall I was disappointed by the fatwa issued by Jamaiat-Ulema-e-Hind. In 1870 the British government in India declared that singing of the British national anthem “God Save the Queen” was mandatory. Vande Mataram was written in 1876 to protest against this new British order. I have read the English version of Vande Mataram and feel that there is nothing in it that is overtly religious. The official version sung in India today does not include the last paragraph which has references to Durga Devi. Interestingly the Jamait Ulema-e-Hind ever since its formation in 1919 was closely linked to the Indian National Congress. The organization opposed the formation of a separate Muslim state (Pakistan).
But everything is fair game in politics today. The fatwa issued by Jamaiat-Ulema is clearly meant to show its power and influence over certain members of the Indian Muslim community. They want to make sure that their organization stays relevant and one of the easiest ways to do this is to make controversial statements or in this case a fatwa. The issue of some Muslims not wanting to sing the Vande Mataram is a very old issue. Leaders like Rajendra Prasad and Rabindranath Tagore and the Indian National Congress debated in the 1930’s on whether or not to use Vande Mataram as India’s national anthem. They decided against it primarily because of references to Durga Devi in the last paragraph. So why bring up this issue 80 years later? I think that the actions of Jamaiat-Ulema seem to indicate that it is trying its best to alienate and derail the improving relationship between the Hindus and the Muslims in India.
However, I am totally against outrageous statements made by the Shiv Sena and the likes on this issue. Shiv Sena’s reaction shows that they are no different from Jamaiat-Ulema. They are trying to divide Indians based on whether the individual wants to sing Vande Mataram or not. Shiv Sena is also assuming that the people who do not want to sing this song are Muslims (that is why they want everyone who does not want to comply to go to Pakistan or Bangladesh). But what about the Hindus, Christians, Sikhs and non-believers who also do not want to sing this song? Where do you want us to go? But the most important point is that Muslims in India are Indian citizens. It is outlandish to suggest that some of them should go to Pakistan or Bangladesh just because they do not want to sing a song that the rest of us consider to be a patriotic act.
One of the major criticisms against the Muslim society in the world today is that extremist elements do the talking on behalf of their religion. This is partly true. Moderate elements in many Muslim communities have remained largely silent. But before we propose this question to the Muslim society we have the responsibility to ask the same question to ourselves and provide an honest answer. We have to be clear that hypocrites like Uddhav Thackeray do not get to speak on behalf of Hindus or any other community. We should make sure that Indians who follow the Islamic faith understand that that the constitution of India and the Indian legal system and not the Shiv Sena that gets to decide crime and punishment. Refusing to sing a song like the Vande Mataram is not a violation of the Indian Penal Code. People who refuse to sing cannot be labeled as unpatriotic. Even if it is unpatriotic one does not have the right under the law to move a legal citizen of India to another country.
In the 1960’s the Shiv Sena informed all South Indians (particularly those from Kerala) to leave Maharastra and go back to Kerala. They perpetuated the myth that the Malayalis were taking the jobs away from the Marathi people. Those who refused were beaten up or harassed. Whatever happened to the concept of Bharat Matha then? The statements by Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray yesterday wanting some Muslims to leave the country shows that very little has changed in this organization since its inception.
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Category: Culture & Religion