JAMIAT-ULEMA-I-HIND passed a resolution on November 2 urging Muslims in India not to recite Vande Matram, the country’s national anthem, on the ground that some of its verses are against the tenets of Islam. A similar fatwa was also passed by Darul Ulum Deoband three years ago when this controversy had raised its head for the first time. Incidentally, the same organisations have also passed a fatwa that terrorism was against the spirit of Islam.

Hell broke loose in certain circles with the passage of this resolution. The self-appointed custodians of Indian nationalism and some sections of media began attacking the JUH and Muslims in general saying that this ‘fatwa’ was unpatriotic and against national unity. Earlier, Shiv Sena had in an open threat told Indian Muslims that ‘Is Desh Mein Rahna hai to Vande Matram Kahna Hoga.’ So, the Muslims are finding themselves helpless between the two edicts, one asking them not to sing Vande Matram and the other asking them to leave the country if they do not sing it.

There is, however, another opinion espoused by moderates. Most of the Muslim participants in the television talk shows and Muslim leaders, including the minister for minority affairs, Salman Khursheed and some Muslim intellectuals are of the view that that the JUH resolution or fatwa was not acceptable to them, nor should it be given any importance because the Indian constitution has settled the matter long ago: the first two stanzas of the song, which are free from the Hindu imageries, are to be sung by the Muslims. Then, another school of thought asserts that the singing of any song cannot be imposed on the people as that violates the freedom of religion guaranteed by the constitution.

So, there are three shades of opinion on the song issue. One, Muslim orthodox-conservatives like Jamiat-Ulema-i-Hind are against singing the song on religious grounds. Moderates amongst both Muslims and Hindus do not consider someone’s singing or not singing it is a big issue. In fact, majority of Muslims are reported to be of the opinion that they have no problem in singing the song and will continue to sing it. On the other extreme is the RSS fatwa, intimidating and assertive, that the song must be sung.

The song has a complex history. It was written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee who later made it part of his novel Anand Math. This novel has strong anti-Muslim rhetoric. The song was very popular with a section of society but the Muslim League strongly objected to the song on grounds that it compares India with goddess Durga. Islam being a monotheistic religion does not recognise any god or goddess other than Allah. Many others belonging to monotheistic religions also had a problem with this song. In 1937, the Song Committee of the Indian National Congress with Nehru and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad amongst its members selected Jana Gana Mana as the national anthem and picked up first two stanzas of Vande Matram as national song.

The Supreme Court had also to deal with this issue. School children from the ‘Jehovah's Witnesses faith’ had refused to sing the Vande Matram because they claimed their religion forbade them to sing it. As a result, the school expelled the recalcitrant students. The matter went to the Supreme Court, which observed that a secular court cannot enquire into the correctness or otherwise of religious beliefs and that not singing this song due to religious beliefs was not against Indian constitution. The ground on which the court gave its verdict was the assessment whether the belief is genuinely and conscientiously held by a sizable section of the community, and that the belief is not opposed to public order and morality. The Supreme Court struck down the students' expulsion as violative of their freedom of religion guaranteed by Article 25 of the constitution and students were taken back.

Soli Sorabjee, an eminent lawyer, takes the cue from Justice Chinnappa Reddy to explain the rationale of the judgment: "Our tradition teaches tolerance; our philosophy preaches tolerance; our constitution practises tolerance; let us not dilute it". The controversy has been raging since 2006 when the UPA government called for singing of the song in schools.

Even the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee had asked Sikhs not to sing Vande Matram, but most of the Sikhs defied that and continued singing the song. One of the most touching rendition of Vande Matram, Maa Tujhe Salaam has come from none other than A.R. Rahman, the celebrated Indian music maestro.

One may note that Jamiat-Ulema-i-Hind is one such organisation which stood solidly with the concept of composite Indian nationalism, opposing India’s partition, rejecting the two-nation theory. And there are several shades of opinion amongst Muslims. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Maulana Hussain Ahmad Madni and many other Muslim clerics went along with the idea of singing first two stanzas of the song. Legally while constitution recognises Vande Matram as a national song, it also gives Indians the freedom of religion, and the Supreme Court judgments have struck down the extreme position that Anthem-Song must be sung.

Mahatma Gandhi, the father of Indian nation, also came to the conclusion that Jana Gana Mana and not Vande Matram, should be the national anthem. Some reports say that this view was not acceptable to Nathuram Godse to the extent that he made this as one of the reasons to assassinate Gandhi.

If India is able to create conditions under which minorities can live with security, dignity and equity, such ‘fatwas’ will be of little relevance. We have seen that in the case of the Sikh community, the mandate of SPGC, was totally ignored. And even now most of the Muslims are hardly impressed by this JUH fatwa.