BJP slams Chidambaram, UPA over Vande Mataram issue

The Bharatiya Janata Party [ Images ] on Tuesday condemned the Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind's opposition to the recitation of Vande Mataram by Muslims and said the presence of Home Minister P Chidambaram [ Images ] in its general assembly had legitimised the resolution.

"We begin our programmes by singing Vande Mataram. But the Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind function started with a protest against the national song," said BJP vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.

He demanded that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh [ Images ] should explain the compulsions that made the home minister attend the programme, after the resolution against singing of Vande Mataram was passed.

Naqvi said the presence of Chidambaram at the programme "gave legitimacy to the resolution, it is a matter of concern."

He claimed that the presence of a member of the Union Cabinet proved that the Congress and the United Progressive Alliance [ Images ] government have a weak policy on terror and separatism.

Attacking the home minister, Naqvi said Chidambaram should have at least said something about the resolution in his speech. "I have a copy of his speech. He has mentioned theBabri mosque demolition and communal riots, but there is no mention of the resolution against Vande Mataram."

Senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi [ Images ] said that the resolution against singing of Vande Mataram is not acceptable and it is against the Constitution.

"During the freedom struggle, it was a motivational song. It should be sung by every patriot," he said.

The fatwa was issued by the Jamait-e-Ulema Hind, Deoband, through a resolution which states that Muslims should not sing Vande Mataram as its recitation is against Islam. It states that some of the verses of the national song are against the tenets of Islam.

In Lucknow [ Images ], BJP state unit president Ramapati Ram Tripathi said the protest against Vande Mataram was "anti-national and the presence of the Union home minister was condemnable".

He claimed that the participation of a Union Minister in the Deoband programme showed that the Centre was hand-in-glove with anti-Vande Mataram forces and the Congress had an understanding with 'anti-national' elements.

"Not only the Congress, but the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party should also clarify its stand on this issue, as it is very sensitive and related to the pride of the nation," Tripathi said.