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BJP, it seems is becoming increasingly devoid of issues.
Chhattisgarh government has issued a circular to all educational institutions in the state including madarsas to ensure recital of Vande Mataram on September 7 to mark the centenary celebrations of the national song.
Vande Mataram issue is one of those issues that can always be banked upon for anti-Muslim propoganda in India. It is one of those tricks that politicians conjure up once in a while and it always works. It has dutifully served its proponents for the past 60 years and has been able to portray Indian Muslims (with varying degree of success) as being ‘not patriotic enough’.
What is the problem with Vande Mataram?
Muslims don’t bow their heads to anyone except the creator and it is difficult for them to imagine nation as a deity (to which they should bow). Then there is whole historical background of the song and the text and context in which it was used in.
Written in 1876, the song first appeared in 1882 in Bankim Chand Chatterjee’s novel Anand Math. The theme of the novel is an armed struggle against Muslim rulers of Bengal. The novel is more anti-Muslim than it is anti-British. The venerable Nirad C. Chaudhuri writes, “The historical romances of Bankim Chatterjee and Ramesh Chandra Dutt glorified Hindu rebellion against Muslim rule and showed the Muslims in a correspondingly poor light. Chatterjee was positively and fiercely anti-Muslim. We were eager readers of these romances and we readily absorbed their spirit.” Here is a sample from the novel:
Jivananda with sword in hand, at the gate of the temple, exhorts the children of Kali: “We have often thought to break up this bird’s nest of Muslim rule, to pull down the city of the renegades and throw it into the river – to turn this pig-sty to ashes and make Mother earth free from evil again. Friends, that day has come.”
Chatterjee uses Vande Mataram in his novel for a very specific context:
‘Our religion is gone, our caste is gone, our honour is gone. Can the Hindus preserve their Hinduism unless these drunken Nereys (a term of contempt for Muslims) are driven away?’… Mahendra, however, not convinced, expresses reluctance to join the rebellion. He is, therefore, taken to the temple of Ananda Math and shown a huge image of four-armed Vishnu, with two decapitated and bloody heads in front, “Do you know who she is?” asks the priest in charge, pointing to an image on the lap of Vishnu, “She is the Mother. We are her children Say ‘Bande Mataram’” He is taken to the image of Kali and then to that of Durga. On each occasion he is asked to recite ‘Bande Mataram’. In another scene in the novel some people shouted ‘kill, kill the Nereys’. Others shouted ‘Bande Mataram’ ‘Will the day come when we shall break mosques and build temples on their sites?
The original song was composed of five stanzas out of which only first two are approved to be sung as national song but the remaining three are not. A. G. Noorani puts is aptly when he says, “A poem which needs surgical operation cannot command universal acceptance“.
As an Indian Muslim it is difficult to imagine my nation as a deity to which I should bow my head. Does that makes me any less patriotic?
Suggested Reading: How secular is Vande Mataram? by A. G. Noorani.
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Sudie,
What the Congress did to the Sikhs in 1984 does not really absolve the BJP of what they did to the Muslims in 2002.
Viewed in that perspective, both the Congress and BJP stand pretty much on par. What is needed is a genuine awakening within the ranks of each party, so that they are able to deliver better for the nation.
Let us not brand anybody. Let everybody have the chance to mend their ways and look forward.
Amir, that is a very ignorant statement to make. British not “only” divided and ruled, they openly discriminated against anyone who was not white (which is the polar opposite of “tolerant”), and I’d urge you to read up on your history if you want to compute the number of people (Indians) killed either because of British policies or direct action during their rule.
Sudie, actually, the story is slightly different. The “older” monk had carried a woman on his back and had deep guilt over it. But instead of letting justice take due course, he set up commissions and inquiries to prolong the process, and then apologized after 20 years. Now, the “newer” monk carried a woman too, having watched the “older” monk get away with it, and the “older” monk goes apoplectic and always points a finger at the “newer” monk, conveniently forgetting that he himself had made the same mistake and set the precedent. And the media proclaims the “older” monk as a champion of women, conveniently forgetting the events of 20+ years ago, or that justice still hasn’t been served.
Amit
accept my heartiest congratulations on your knowing of our history better. I will not take that away from you.
Amir, did I ever tell you that I absolutely love sarcasm on the internet? Love it!
And how can I not accept congratulations from a fellow-human? Thank you.
Amir
You are going over the top a bit. Fanaticism and religious fervor have been the excuse of invaders to India across centuries. The partition of India was fundamentally on the basis of religion – though clearly it was driven more by ego, feudal traditions and political ambition.
Let us not paint a party in a single colour and evaluate people by what they say and represent than by our preconceived notions. Both Congress and BJP have their leaders as well as Villains. Vajpayee is held in far higher regard by even the seperatists in Kashmir as well as Pakistan than any leader after him. Advani went to Pakistan and stood by his statements on Jinnah. Unlike Zardari who was quick to with his statement on Kashmiri seperatists. Hate is not going to help us much because while VHP/Bajrand Dal guys cannot wish away 150 million muslims in the country, similarly its a very bleak chance that SIMI will be able to convert India to an Islamic state.
I completely agree with Milind. Let us look for solutions to problems rather than finding who to blame.
Funny twist Amit. Let me highlight that both the Monks in case of India seem to be obsessed about using the women (just the name keeps changing) and less on understanding them.
Ironical is it not
The person who revived the craze of the “remix” of Vande Mataram and energized the nation was AR Rahman……I guess to each ones….
Amir,
Lets pause for a second and look at the big picture.
Nationalism based on Christianity, Islam, and Judaism are well known ideas. It’s just that these days, popular Hinduism is increasingly taking on semitic characteristics.
Lets say that 30 years from now, Hinduism becomes exactly the same type of “nationalistic” religion that Islam is today. What is the problem if Hindus combine national identity and religion into one coherent concept? Keep in mind that unlike in Islam, Hindus have the right to continue defining what their religion should look like. Its a right that has been exercised throughout Indian history and one that the present generation of Hindus have inherited.
We do have a terrific fund of rhetorical raw material to start with. Just take relevant sections of the Quran, and replace all Islam specific information with their Hindu equivalents (e.g., Allah with Ishwara, Muslims with Hindus, Jews with Muslims, Mecca with Varanasi, and so on).
One of the above posters said, “I sing it freely at home but object if someone prescribes that I sing it.” I understand this sentiment completely. The problem here is really that the BJP is clearly using it as a political instrument and so it raises one’s hackles…I get it. But by reacting to it and then refusing to sing vande mataram, those who protest against singing it only fall into BJP’s trap of drawing lines between the communities.
In the Jesuit school I went to (I’m Hindu, in case that matters), we sang Catholic hymns every morning and I had a fair share of Muslim friends who sang along. It didn’t make any of us less Hindu or less Muslim.
Don’t we have larger issues to worry about?
Muslims who allow themselves to be provoked by the political shenanigans of the BJP are making the BJP’s work easier rather than more difficult, IMO.
This being said, I think schools should be left to decide what they want to include in their routines. Clearly, Chattisgarh should be seeing to issues of underdevelopment that are exacerbating the Maoist problem, and leave petty things like this alone.
Arun, I’m sorry I don’t get the point you’re trying to make:
You say:
“Lets say that 30 years from now, Hinduism becomes exactly the same type of “nationalistic” religion that Islam is today. What is the problem if Hindus combine national identity and religion into one coherent concept? Keep in mind that unlike in Islam, Hindus have the right to continue defining what their religion should look like. Its a right that has been exercised throughout Indian history and one that the present generation of Hindus have inherited.
Just take relevant sections of the Quran, and replace all Islam specific information with their Hindu equivalents (e.g., Allah with Ishwara, Muslims with Hindus, Jews with Muslims, Mecca with Varanasi, and so on).”
Why would we want this?!! Hinduism itself only acquired the name it carries now sometime in the nineteenth century: it was always a philosophy, an umbrella for an endless spectrum of ideas ranging from scepticism, doubt to more faith-based practices. So why would we want something this broad and flexible to become conflated with national identity? It would go against the very grain of Hindu philosophy.
And even if, for argument’s sake, I say : ok, let Hindu faith and practices become conflated with national identity, then whose Hindu faith will the state choose? As a South Indian Hindu, I don’t even relate to the selection of gods in north Indian Hindu practices. Many legends and myths are different in Hindu mythologies in the South.
The problem with conflating any one religion or faith-based practice with the nation-state is that you will ALWAYS only be speaking for a section of the Indian people. In such a situation, having a national identitiy that is civic rather than faith-based or even ethnicity-based is the only way ahead of us.
Looking at the bigger picture, Vande Mataram and other such stuff frankly belongs in the domain of trivia.
Today, we have female foeticide, dowry deaths, poverty, illiteracy and many such severe issues to deal with. It is far, far, more important to address these issues.
Amit: LOL – and you are welcome.
Arun,
“Hindus have the right to continue defining what their religion should look like”
Who’s given them that right? Hinduism? HA. No way dude. It’s a self appointed practice adopted by evolving individuals, not sanctioned by scriptures. True, it does not meet any passive or active resistance from your Guardians of faith, But if you were to seek their seal of approval on you customizing your religion, they’ll surely give you a peace of their mind.
Islam and Muslims do not have that luxury, because they were told centuries ago, this is it dude, take it, you leave it and face God’s wrath in the Hereafter. Some people of course could not wait that long and decided to play God themselves.
Another reason Hinduism has flexed out is because it’s much older. It can be anyone’s guess what influence Hinduism would have yielded on day to day affairs even two thousand years after it’s inception. In contrast, Muslims are not doing that bad a mere 1400 years on. And 30 years from now, chances are tolerance would have seeped in much more in Islamic society too.
That trend however will face a reversal effect at least here in India, if like you said Hinduism were to become a Nationalistic religion by then.
“What is the problem if Hindus combine national identity and religion into one coherent concept?” you ask. No problem bro. Absolutely none, at least from my end. But it became a problem with some vested political entities when Muslims tried to do something along the same lines too didn’t they. And Muslims did that because they have been doing it for centuries, and not for some newly formulated vested interests.
Regards.
I am surprised,shocked,saddened and what not?
we has a community by large at the worst phase of the time but rather busy in replying to the least important subject of the hour!In the middle of all these heinous crimes,i see so many of my br’s spending their valuable time and thoughts in giving reply to the least important subject of the hour..Currently we are been bulldowsed with many allegations,Indian Muslim’s dignity at stake, enormous accusations,several innocent arrests,communal violence’s,ethnic cleansing…..people being butchered to death just for a torn poster in dhule!!…please focus my dear br’s in iSlam.
I agree with sis. sudha,she has hit the nail on the head!! well done..
We the least literate community as a whole,should channel our knowledge in a more effective way…
I am forced to agree with vinod,we are in a way to be blamed for our alienation thereby victimised and being persecuted.
My dear country men and br’s in humanity,My ancestors were Hindu iyengars in south Tamil nadu and they were not the unlucky one’s as someone in the blog have put it,if they have been forced to accept Islam,we would have gone back to our forefather’s religion (Hinduism)when the Muslim’s lost their leadership in India and would not be sticking to this new faith and struggling for our identity even after 60 years of independence.Country men please ponder on this fact!
we still celebrate the independence from british and not from muslim rulers!
Quran clearly sates “LET THERE BE NO COMPULSION IN RELEGION,AS TRUTH STANDS CLEARLY OUT FROM ERROR.”
If Isalm is not forced on our ancestors then why did they accepted this new faith? It is because the Purana’s and the Veda’s have foretold/propagated it’s followers to do so…who is kalki avatar? my country men please ponder on this!
Amir,
> Who’s given them that right? Hinduism? HA. No way dude. It’s a self appointed practice adopted by evolving individuals, not sanctioned by scriptures.
Indians are master designers of religions! There is nothing stopping a Hindu from propagating the idea that Hinduism should take on certain aspects of nationalism. Savarkar did it a few decades ago – the idea has only gained momentum since then.
You must not assume that history stops at a given point in time. We are living the history that people will read about in 400 years. I don’t know about you, but it’s obvious to me that what’s happening is a form of “semiticisation” of Hinduism, and the 90s will be recognized as a critical period in this transformation.
E.g., ponder over how Sikhism came into being in India. You seem trapped in a very Middle Eastern notion that religious paths and outlook cannot be deliberately designed.
> That trend however will face a reversal effect at least here in India, if like you said Hinduism were to become a Nationalistic religion by then.
I’d argue the opposite. Islamic principles haven’t changed for the past 1400 years – there is no reason to suspect that it will change in the next 30. The only way to induce a change is to show how other “tolerant” communities – Buddhists, Jains, the liberal West, and yes, the mostly secular Hindus – would look like if they adopted certain Islamic and Christian trappings into their way of life.
Sudha,
> Why would we want this?!! Hinduism itself only acquired the name it carries now sometime in the nineteenth century: it was always a philosophy, an umbrella for an endless spectrum of ideas ranging from scepticism, doubt to more faith-based practices. So why would we want something this broad and flexible to become conflated with national identity? It would go against the very grain of Hindu philosophy.
I was simply trying to hold a philosophical mirror of sorts, by way of showing how Hinduism would look like if it was a religion more like Islam.
Nationhood formed on attempts to use religion as a basis cannot succeed unless there is a deep unifying bond. The failure of Pakistan is the most glaring example.
Ultimately, a secular state is the best alternative because the absence of religion in state matters is the surest way to ensure that friction does not occur.
I withdraw. Blogs and debates lead nowhere. They keep ping ponging back and forth.
Islam is the only religion that claims to have a 100% revealed book, with laws that are immutable.
Hence, it should not be compared with other religions. However, the doors of ijtihad have not been closed and mujtahids can on an ongoing basis evaluate how changing circumstances need to be viewed in the light of the Quran.
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