MUMBAI: In a fierce reaction to the resolution passed by Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind (JuH) two days ago at Deoband seminary in Uttar Pradesh and issuing a fatwa to the Muslims asking them not to recite the Hindu patriotic song “Vande Mataram”, the Shiv Sena working president Uddhav Thackeray in a statement issued on Thursday slammed the fatwa, stating that those opposed to the singing of the song should migrate to Pakistan or Bangladesh.
“If you don’t want to salute your motherland, then whom do you salute? Why are you ashamed of saluting your motherland? If you don’t want to salute, then better leave and go to Pakistan or Bangladesh as there is no place for traitors in India,” Uddhav said.
“Fundamentalist Muslims are adopting aggressive attitude and the government is fondling softly their beards. If anti-national fatwas are issued in the presence of the federal home minister, then there is no future for this country,” Uddhav added.
The JuH, considered to be one of the largest groups of Muslim clerics in India, has issued the fatwa stating that the recitation of the song goes against the tenets of Islam as Muslims only bow to Allah and the song is all about bowing to something other than Allah.
Meanwhile, two groups in Madhya Pradesh said Thursday that it is not un-Islamic to sing “Vande Mataram.” Claiming to have translated the song into Urdu, the All India Muslim Tehwar Committee (AIMTC) and the National Secularism Front of India (NSFI) say it is simply a prayer to keep the nation safe.
Meanwhile, while cousin Uddhav was targeting Muslims, his cousin Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) was demanding an increase in the quota of Haj pilgrims from Maharashtra. In a memorandum presented to the Central Haj Committee, the MNS demanded that more pilgrims be sent from Maharashtra.
