Dalwai slams new ‘Vande Mataram’ rule as ‘forceful, wrong’
New Delh: Congress leader Husain Dalwai has criticised the India government’s decision to make it mandatory to play or sing the complete six-stanza version of Vande Mataram at official occasions, calling the move “forceful and wrong”.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Husain Dalwai said, “In the first stanza of Vande Mataram, it speaks about the nation, but later it refers to deities. This country is secular… Muslims do not oppose the first stanza of Vande Mataram. Therefore, by deliberately making all six stanzas mandatory, there has been an attempt somewhere to target Muslims. This is being done intentionally, which is wrong.”
Emphasising that there has historically been broad acceptance of the opening verse, Dalwai added, “Everyone says Vande Mataram and it should be respected, but only the first stanza of Vande Mataram has recognition. The committee formed for this included Shyama Prasad Mukherjee and Maulana Azad, and all of them had given recognition to it. However, all six stanzas were not given recognition.”
