BJP raises tempo over 'Vande Mataram', targets SP MLA Azmi for refusing to join recitation

Mumbai, Nov 7 (PTI) Mumbai BJP chief Ameet Satam on Friday asserted those who wish to live in India must recite "Vande Mataram" as he led a protest outside the Colaba home of Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Asim Azmi, who insisted Muslims cannot recite the national song on religious grounds.

The demonstration in Colaba, south Mumbai, was organised after Azmi opposed the BJP's plan to mark 150 years of "Vande Mataram" with a mass recital of the national song across the metropolis.

"I thought Azmi would respect Vande Mataram and come out of his home to join us. Sadly, he did not turn up. Vande Mataram is about patriotism, and as the song completes 150 years, we are holding its recital at various places," Satam told reporters.

"We want to give a message to some people that if they want to live in this country, they will have to recite Vande Mataram," he said in an apparent reference to the SP legislator.

Satam emphasised every "true citizen" of India should proudly say Vande Mataram.

Besides Satam, BJP leaders, including Maharashtra assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar and state minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha, along with party workers participated in the national song recital in Colaba.

Soon after the protest, the MLA from Mumbai's Mankhurd Shivajinagar constituency hit back with a sharp response in a video message.

Azmi claimed there was a court order stating no one can be forced to recite Vande Mataram and added he would file a case against those who were threatening and pressuring him to sing the song.

"As per my religion, Allah is the creator of everything in the world. Hence, I cannot bow before anything else. There are people of different faiths who bow before soil, snakes, the Sun and other things. I have no issues with it," the SP MLA said.

Talking to reporters separately, Azmi hit out at the BJP and accused it of seeking to divide people on the basis on religion and "suppress" Muslims.

Azmi insisted Muslims who believe in 'sharia' (Islam's legal system) and Allah will not equate any other entity or figure with Allah because it is sinful.

The Opposition lawmaker described the BJP as the "Bharat Jalao Party" and "worshippers of hate" who want to divide the country on the basis on religion.

"They want to suppress and weaken Muslims. Will I ask you to offer 'nawaz'? Muslims worship only Allah and not zameen (land)," he asserted.

The popular song, which served as a battle cry during independence movement, was written by Bankim Chandra Chatterji on the occasion of Akshaya Navami, which fell on November 7 in 1875. Vande Mataram was adopted as India’s national song by the Constituent Assembly in 1950. PTI ND MR VT RSY