Fredrick Noronha suggested that we should look at the article at the following site:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/5207948.cms?frm=mailtofriend for an article titled "The politics of Vande Mataram" by Jyoti Punwani The very first sentence of the article says: "Among the 15 resolutions passed by the Jamiat-e-Ulema-I-Hind (Mehmud Madani branch) at its anti-terrorism conference at Dar Ul Uloom Deoband last week, only one was highlighted by the media: the one which dubbed the singing of Vande Mataram as `un-Islamic'." I was interested to know about the other 14 fatwas passed, but could not get any from the article. However, in another article, I read that some of the others were: * Against the Muslims greeting one another with namaste instead of salaam * Decried efforts to bring women into mainstream * Said no to the proposed onethird reservations for women in legislatures * Ruled against inoculation for AIDS and polio * Called for the boycott of both radio and television * Wanted ten-year-old girls to be educated in madarasas only * Adopted a strong resolution against the proposed central board for regulating madrasas Actually these fatwas needed much more attention from the media than the one on Vande Mataram. (Just to clarify, I think it is absurd to say that one should be allowed NOT to sing our national song.) I wonder why the media does not do its job of properly informing the people. I got the above information only because a friend of mine forwarded me an article from the Free Press Journal, which I understand is the smallest amongst the English dailies in Mumbai, and not published anywhere else in India. Best wishes Dr UG Barad
