PTI

Muslim intelligentsia distances itself from fatwa

Sun, Nov 8 11:14 AM

Sangita Bakaya Lucknow, Nov 8 (PTI) Distancing itself from the ''fatwa'' against Muslims singing ''Vande Mataram'', a section of the intelligentsia today said there was a need to educate the community about the actual meaning of the lone "objectionable" word ''vande'' in order to remove doubts over its rendition. Last week, Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind at its annual meet in Deoband opposed singing of the national song by Muslims.

Vice President of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board and eminent scholar Maulana Kalbe Sadiq called for a debate among Hindi litterateurs to define the word ''Vande'' used in the song which forms the basis on which it has been termed been as being against their religion. Sadiq told PTI that he was ready to accept the contention of Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khursheed that the National Song had been approved by Maulana Azad on whose suggestions some words were removed.

"If the word Vande stands for respect and showing reverence to the motherland, then Muslims have no ground to object to it and it is for the litterateurs and knowledge persons of Sanskrit, Urdu and Hindi to sit down and debate over it so that the misconceptions about the same can be removed," Sadiq said. He stressed that if the word stands for "worship" it is technically unacceptable for Muslims who cannot worship anyone other than the almighty.

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