umesh sharma
Mon, 12 Jun 2006 08:09:37 -0700
Religious jingoism does indeed know no bounds.Religious leaders ought to know how to separate religion from nationalism.--RamSentinel EditorialVande Mataram!_______________________________________________
I t is all about glorifying the motherland where one
is born and for which the patriotic soul would go to the gallows. It is about the spirit of a nation whose tolerance has always been put to cruel tests by the absolutists whose hallmark is belligerence. It is about a tradition which requires one to spiritualize the contours of religion; the core being dharma in a universally quintessential sense. So when one says ''vande mataram!'' and asserts the spirit and tradition of Bharat, he or she does what patriotism the essence of any independent nation requires it to be. Then what is the import of the fatwa issued by Islamic clerics in Hyderabad against vande mataram? What does it mean for a nation whose secular essence has to do with not only modern political theory but also the age-old Vedantic and Upanishadic culture? It is not about Hindutva as a political ideology; political Hinduism has a clear disconnect with Hinduism as a way of life, spiritual and transcendental. It is simply disgusting, to say the least, that in a country where the 85 per cent Hindus do not mind the non-existence of any Hindu state in the world and do not see reasons to promote any militant brand of Hinduism, barring an insignificant and derided group, Islamic clerics, that too in a historically rich city like Hyderabad, should ask Muslim parents not to send their children to schools where vande mataram is recited. But what is the objection? It is that the song, composed by one of the luminaries of Bengali literature during the freedom movement, goes against the teachings of Islam. Well, the connotation intrinsic to any patriotic song like vande mataram is that the motherland in the instant case, India is supreme. What is more unbelievable, and it is not for the first time that vande mataram finds itself mired in controversy, is that even progressive Muslims find it hard to come to terms with the spirit of the song. Kamal Farouqui, a member of the Muslim Personal Law Board, says: ''Singing vande mataram is against the teachings of Islam and I will not sing it.'' There is a simple fact, though overlooked by religious chauvinists who may be of any hue. The invoking of the spirit of vande mataram is equivalent to invoking the divine in one's own motherland. Indian tradition, definitely a concentrated pattern of diverse thoughts and ideas, requires one to worship the motherland. That goes for nationalism which, when fused with the holistic heritage of the land, translates to internationalism. There can be no second thought about it; for, a song like vande mataram does not stand for, or promote, any religion. What it stands for and unfailingly promotes is nationalism not just cultural but encompassing the pluralist orders of the day, and so absolutely timeless at that. What the Islamic clerics have failed to realize is that vande mataram cannot go against the teachings of any religion. Yes, it is another matter that anything could go against anything under the sky only when the cardinality of any faith is deliberately distorted and moulded anew to suit politico-religious jingoism. It is time, then, that the liberal Muslim voice came to the front to tell the clerics that it is not their business to meddle with a patriotic song of the country. Can we hope so?
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