{"id":208122,"date":"2026-08-17T09:22:43","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T04:22:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/?p=208122"},"modified":"2026-08-17T09:22:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T04:22:43","slug":"vande-mataram-should-not-be-forced-on-muslims-to-sing-it-rafiqul-islam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/2026\/08\/17\/vande-mataram-should-not-be-forced-on-muslims-to-sing-it-rafiqul-islam.html","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Vande Mataram\u2019 should not be forced on Muslims to sing it: Rafiqul Islam"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-208123\" src=\"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/assests\/2026\/08\/Rafiq-Ul-Islam.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"258\" height=\"145\" \/><\/p>\n<p>New Delhi: All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) leader Rafiqul Islam has said that while people should be free to sing Vande Mataram voluntarily, it should not be made compulsory for those who do not wish to do so.<\/p>\n<p>According to Kashmir Media Service, speaking on the ongoing debate over the Indian song, Islam said that one person\u2019s faith or religious practice should not be imposed on another.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThose who wish to sing \u2018Vande Mataram\u2019 out of choice may certainly do so. We have no objection to that. But it should not be forcibly imposed on those who do not wish to sing it,\u201d Islam said. He said that some of its stanzas contain references to worship and adoration. Islam said the issue should be viewed from the perspective of religious beliefs, particularly those of Muslims, who worship and bow only before Allah.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne person&#8217;s faith should not be imposed upon another&#8217;s,\u201d he said, adding that while Hindus are free to worship their chosen deities, Muslims should not be compelled to worship or bow before any deity other than Allah. He urged the Indian government to take this perspective into consideration while dealing with the issue and maintained that singing the song should remain a matter of individual choice rather than compulsion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New Delhi: All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) leader Rafiqul Islam has said that while people should be free to sing Vande Mataram voluntarily, it should not be made compulsory for those who do not wish to do so. According to Kashmir Media Service, speaking on the ongoing debate over the Indian song, Islam said &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":208123,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-208122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-india"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>\u2018Vande Mataram\u2019 should not be forced on Muslims to sing it: Rafiqul Islam &#062; Kashmir Media Service<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/2026\/08\/17\/vande-mataram-should-not-be-forced-on-muslims-to-sing-it-rafiqul-islam.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Vande Mataram\u2019 should not be forced on Muslims to sing it: Rafiqul Islam &#062; Kashmir Media Service\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"New Delhi: All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) leader Rafiqul Islam has said that while people should be free to sing Vande Mataram voluntarily, it should not be made compulsory for those who do not wish to do so. According to Kashmir Media Service, speaking on the ongoing debate over the Indian song, Islam said &hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/2026\/08\/17\/vande-mataram-should-not-be-forced-on-muslims-to-sing-it-rafiqul-islam.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Kashmir Media Service\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-17T04:22:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/assests\/2026\/08\/Rafiq-Ul-Islam.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"258\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"145\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Monitoring Desk\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Monitoring Desk\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kmsnews.org\\\/kms\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/17\\\/vande-mataram-should-not-be-forced-on-muslims-to-sing-it-rafiqul-islam.html#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kmsnews.org\\\/kms\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/17\\\/vande-mataram-should-not-be-forced-on-muslims-to-sing-it-rafiqul-islam.html\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Monitoring Desk\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kmsnews.org\\\/kms\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b00a837f81f7e127d4e0e4ce6e91247\"},\"headline\":\"\u2018Vande Mataram\u2019 should not be forced on Muslims to sing it: Rafiqul Islam\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-17T04:22:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kmsnews.org\\\/kms\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/17\\\/vande-mataram-should-not-be-forced-on-muslims-to-sing-it-rafiqul-islam.html\"},\"wordCount\":228,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kmsnews.org\\\/kms\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/17\\\/vande-mataram-should-not-be-forced-on-muslims-to-sing-it-rafiqul-islam.html#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kmsnews.org\\\/kms\\\/assests\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/Rafiq-Ul-Islam.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"India\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kmsnews.org\\\/kms\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/17\\\/vande-mataram-should-not-be-forced-on-muslims-to-sing-it-rafiqul-islam.html\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kmsnews.org\\\/kms\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/17\\\/vande-mataram-should-not-be-forced-on-muslims-to-sing-it-rafiqul-islam.html\",\"name\":\"\u2018Vande Mataram\u2019 should not be forced on Muslims to sing it: Rafiqul Islam &#062; Kashmir Media Service\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kmsnews.org\\\/kms\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kmsnews.org\\\/kms\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/17\\\/vande-mataram-should-not-be-forced-on-muslims-to-sing-it-rafiqul-islam.html#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kmsnews.org\\\/kms\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/17\\\/vande-mataram-should-not-be-forced-on-muslims-to-sing-it-rafiqul-islam.html#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kmsnews.org\\\/kms\\\/assests\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/Rafiq-Ul-Islam.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-17T04:22:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kmsnews.org\\\/kms\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b00a837f81f7e127d4e0e4ce6e91247\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kmsnews.org\\\/kms\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/17\\\/vande-mataram-should-not-be-forced-on-muslims-to-sing-it-rafiqul-islam.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/kmsnews.org\\\/kms\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/17\\\/vande-mataram-should-not-be-forced-on-muslims-to-sing-it-rafiqul-islam.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kmsnews.org\\\/kms\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/17\\\/vande-mataram-should-not-be-forced-on-muslims-to-sing-it-rafiqul-islam.html#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kmsnews.org\\\/kms\\\/assests\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/Rafiq-Ul-Islam.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kmsnews.org\\\/kms\\\/assests\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/Rafiq-Ul-Islam.jpg\",\"width\":258,\"height\":145},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kmsnews.org\\\/kms\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/17\\\/vande-mataram-should-not-be-forced-on-muslims-to-sing-it-rafiqul-islam.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kmsnews.org\\\/kms\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\u2018Vande Mataram\u2019 should not be forced on Muslims to sing it: Rafiqul Islam\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kmsnews.org\\\/kms\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kmsnews.org\\\/kms\\\/\",\"name\":\"Kashmir Media Service\",\"description\":\"Latest and Breaking News from Kashmir and India\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kmsnews.org\\\/kms\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kmsnews.org\\\/kms\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b00a837f81f7e127d4e0e4ce6e91247\",\"name\":\"Monitoring Desk\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/bcdfe52d5c755523efe63f77f50054de3656dcf28fcb7afb8111cf0e0db07186?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/bcdfe52d5c755523efe63f77f50054de3656dcf28fcb7afb8111cf0e0db07186?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/bcdfe52d5c755523efe63f77f50054de3656dcf28fcb7afb8111cf0e0db07186?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Monitoring Desk\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.kmsnews.org\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/kmsnews.org\\\/kms\\\/author\\\/monitoringdesk\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\u2018Vande Mataram\u2019 should not be forced on Muslims to sing it: Rafiqul Islam &#062; Kashmir Media Service","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/2026\/08\/17\/vande-mataram-should-not-be-forced-on-muslims-to-sing-it-rafiqul-islam.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\u2018Vande Mataram\u2019 should not be forced on Muslims to sing it: Rafiqul Islam &#062; Kashmir Media Service","og_description":"New Delhi: All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) leader Rafiqul Islam has said that while people should be free to sing Vande Mataram voluntarily, it should not be made compulsory for those who do not wish to do so. According to Kashmir Media Service, speaking on the ongoing debate over the Indian song, Islam said &hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/2026\/08\/17\/vande-mataram-should-not-be-forced-on-muslims-to-sing-it-rafiqul-islam.html","og_site_name":"Kashmir Media Service","article_published_time":"2026-08-17T04:22:43+00:00","og_image":[{"width":258,"height":145,"url":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/assests\/2026\/08\/Rafiq-Ul-Islam.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Monitoring Desk","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Monitoring Desk","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/2026\/08\/17\/vande-mataram-should-not-be-forced-on-muslims-to-sing-it-rafiqul-islam.html#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/2026\/08\/17\/vande-mataram-should-not-be-forced-on-muslims-to-sing-it-rafiqul-islam.html"},"author":{"name":"Monitoring Desk","@id":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/#\/schema\/person\/7b00a837f81f7e127d4e0e4ce6e91247"},"headline":"\u2018Vande Mataram\u2019 should not be forced on Muslims to sing it: Rafiqul Islam","datePublished":"2026-08-17T04:22:43+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/2026\/08\/17\/vande-mataram-should-not-be-forced-on-muslims-to-sing-it-rafiqul-islam.html"},"wordCount":228,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/2026\/08\/17\/vande-mataram-should-not-be-forced-on-muslims-to-sing-it-rafiqul-islam.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/assests\/2026\/08\/Rafiq-Ul-Islam.jpg","articleSection":["India"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/2026\/08\/17\/vande-mataram-should-not-be-forced-on-muslims-to-sing-it-rafiqul-islam.html","url":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/2026\/08\/17\/vande-mataram-should-not-be-forced-on-muslims-to-sing-it-rafiqul-islam.html","name":"\u2018Vande Mataram\u2019 should not be forced on Muslims to sing it: Rafiqul Islam &#062; Kashmir Media Service","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/2026\/08\/17\/vande-mataram-should-not-be-forced-on-muslims-to-sing-it-rafiqul-islam.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/2026\/08\/17\/vande-mataram-should-not-be-forced-on-muslims-to-sing-it-rafiqul-islam.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/assests\/2026\/08\/Rafiq-Ul-Islam.jpg","datePublished":"2026-08-17T04:22:43+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/#\/schema\/person\/7b00a837f81f7e127d4e0e4ce6e91247"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/2026\/08\/17\/vande-mataram-should-not-be-forced-on-muslims-to-sing-it-rafiqul-islam.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/2026\/08\/17\/vande-mataram-should-not-be-forced-on-muslims-to-sing-it-rafiqul-islam.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/2026\/08\/17\/vande-mataram-should-not-be-forced-on-muslims-to-sing-it-rafiqul-islam.html#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/assests\/2026\/08\/Rafiq-Ul-Islam.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/assests\/2026\/08\/Rafiq-Ul-Islam.jpg","width":258,"height":145},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/2026\/08\/17\/vande-mataram-should-not-be-forced-on-muslims-to-sing-it-rafiqul-islam.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\u2018Vande Mataram\u2019 should not be forced on Muslims to sing it: Rafiqul Islam"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/#website","url":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/","name":"Kashmir Media Service","description":"Latest and Breaking News from Kashmir and India","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/#\/schema\/person\/7b00a837f81f7e127d4e0e4ce6e91247","name":"Monitoring Desk","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bcdfe52d5c755523efe63f77f50054de3656dcf28fcb7afb8111cf0e0db07186?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bcdfe52d5c755523efe63f77f50054de3656dcf28fcb7afb8111cf0e0db07186?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bcdfe52d5c755523efe63f77f50054de3656dcf28fcb7afb8111cf0e0db07186?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Monitoring Desk"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.kmsnews.org"],"url":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/author\/monitoringdesk"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/assests\/2026\/08\/Rafiq-Ul-Islam.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=208122"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208122\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":208124,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208122\/revisions\/208124"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/208123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=208122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=208122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=208122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}