Muslim objection to Vande Mataram

 

The Muslim objection to the singing of Vande Mataram has less to do with their faith and more to do with the blatantly anti-Islam and anti-Muslim content of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyaya’s novel, Anand Math, of which the controversial song is a part

Listening to ‘Vande Mata ram’ every time one picks up the phone receiver seems to have become every citizen’s patriotic duty. Apart from the fact that the introduction of the relevant software has cost the exchequer a huge amount running into crores of rupees, the present campaign is an assault on the private choice of individuals. The current imposition of Vande Mataram by the BJP seems to be one of a piece with their slogan "Is Desh Mein Rehna Hai To, Vande Mataram Kehna Hoga".

While the unsuspecting people, in the hands of the BJP and the Shiv Sena, may consider Vande Mataram patriotic it has always been an instrument to intimidate, terrorise and humiliate the minorities. Only a few years ago, the BJP government of Delhi, in a blatantly partisan move, had started printing on the invitation cards to the mushaira that the function will begin with the singing of Vande Mataram. And recently, Manohar Joshi’s total rejection of Shri Krishna Commission Report also castigates him for underlining the provocative role that the song played in the Mumbai riots.

It is known that the poem has always given rise to mixed feelings even prior to 1947. This is not without reason.

It is well known that Vande Mataram was a part of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyaya’s novel Anand Math. Chattopadhyaya is considered a key figure in Hindu nationalist discourse. The novel Anand Math is also a manifesto of massive cultural animosity towards Islam.

In the mid–1930s, communal tensions were exacerbated, among other causes, by an effort to elevate Vande Mataram to the status of a national anthem. The Muslim community had argued that quite apart from the text of the poem, its context left them deeply disturbed.

In the novel Anand Math, Vande Mataram is the invocation of a group of ascetics who call themselves santans, or ‘children’ of the Mother. Early in the development of the novel, a leader of the band, Satyanand, is captured by the rulers’ troops. One of his followers, Jnananada, then vows to have him released from incarceration in the rulers’ fort. He exhorts a group of santans for the task in the following manner: "We have long contemplated breaking this nest of pernicious birds, totally destroying this Mussalman city and throwing it into the river..... Come let us go and reduce to dust that city of the Mussalmans. Let us purify with fire that den of swine and cast it into the river". After the assault is successfully concluded, and Satyananda is set free, the santans set off on a rampage. And "wherever they found the home of a Mussalman, they burnt it".

Satyananda later ordains a new member, Mohendra, into the sect. The latter is confused, unable to grasp the basic principles of the santan creed. "I do not understand", he protests, "Why are the santans Vaishnavas? To the Vaishnavas, non-violence is the highest religion". Satyananda reassures him: non-violence is a sign of Chaitanya Deva’s Vaishnavas, which in turn came out of the atheistic Buddhist religion. But this is not the real Vaishnava creed. This is merely half a religion. "The Vishnu of Chaitanya Deva is love incarnate", he explains, "But God is not only love incarnate, he is also infinite power". The santans did not seek kingly powers. It was only because the "Mussalmans are the enemies of God", that they sought to "destroy them totally".

Later, as famine grips the land, the santans organise themselves in small groups. Spies are sent out to villages. And "to every Hindu they saw they said: ‘Brothers, will you worship Vishnu?’ Thus gathering a band of twenty or twenty–five they came to the villages of the Mussalmans and burnt their houses". As the day passed, Hindus in larger numbers came and did obeisance at the feet of the santan leaders. They then set out in bands "to punish the Mussalmans": "Wherever they saw the villages of the Mussalmans they would set fire to them and reduce them to ashes".

The theme of violence against the ‘Mussalmans’ recurs so often in Anand Math, that it is impossible to believe it is not integral to the novel. It has been argued that Bankim Chandra — as a Government official concerned with security of employment — was doing no more than using the ‘Mussalmans’ as a whipping boy for the British. This may be crediting him with greater subtlety than he intended. The novel Anand Math ends with the santan rebellion successfully consummated. But Satyananda is distraught. Returning to the ashram of the santans, he meets his spiritual mentor, and demands to know: "The Mussalman domination is done away with, but no Hindu kingdom has yet been established. The English are strong in Calcutta now".

Turning to the image of Mother India, Satyananda pours out his grief: "Alas Mother! I have failed to rescue you, you will again fall into the clutches of the Mlecchas (non-Aryans)". His mentor comforts him: "Unless the English rule this land", he says, "there is no chance of the renaissance of the eternal religions". There are two branches of knowledge, he explains — the secular and the spiritual. And while the Hindu mind is well attuned to the latter, it has little grasp of the former. This branch of learning must necessarily be introduced from some other country. "The English are past masters in the knowledge that pertains to the material world", proceeds the santan guru. Besides which "they are adept in the art of teaching". On account of this happy conjunction of circumstances, he concludes, "we shall make the British our rulers". Indeed, the entire santan rebellion only took place "to put the British on the throne".

Vande Mataram in time became an inspiration call of the Swadeshi movement in its initial phases. But it has always remained an instrument of Muslim bashing in the hands of the Hindutva forces.

sahmat

(Sahmat is a Delhi–based secular initiative)


Protest in Kerala

On August 15, India’s 51st Independence anniversary, several schools in Kerala’s northern districts defied the state government directive on reciting Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s poem, Vande Mataram. Many Muslim organisations in the region had issued a fatwa against reciting the poem, which they believed bore a communal colour.

Vande Mataram, they said, was in praise of idol worship and, hence, against their religious principles. A tense situation prevailed in several parts of the Muslim–dominated Malappuram district. Though Muslims and activists of the RSS took up positions around schools, timely police intervention averted untoward incidents.The education department on July 27 gave the order, making the recitation of Vande Mataram compulsory in all educational institutions.Muslim and Christian organisations resented the directive as they felt that the poem contained references hurting their religious sentiments.

— D. Jose in Thiruvananthapuram

 

 


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