The country's imams banned Muslims from singing the Vande Mataram song that describes India as a "god to adore", because this offends "Allah, the one god".
Ranchi (AsiaNews) 7 September passed uneventfully without any inter-faith clashes: this was the day when the Sanskrit song 'Vande Mataram' [I adore my motherland] was sung in India despite warnings of possible tensions between Hindu nationalists and the Muslim minority. Numerous fatwas were issued by imams in the country against the song lyrics and protests followed.
Some days before the celebration, the government decreed that the song should be sung in all schools of the Union: the text clearly refers to the Hindu pantheon and describes India as a "god to adore". For this reason, Islamic clerics pronounced themselves in no uncertain terms against the decision and they banned their followers from committing "such a sacrilege against Allah, the one god".
There was an immediate backlash from nationalist groups that accused Muslims of being "anti-nationalist". The situation caused concern to government authorities that feared clashes would follow. Things got especially tense in Jharkhand, a central-eastern state of India, run by a party of nationalist leaning but with a large percentage of Muslims and Christians.
Christian churches in the state kept out of the dispute. Fr Cyprian Kullu, who works in the state media, told AsiaNews: "The song is a part of our history and national festivity and religion should not be dragged into such mundane things."
He said: "The 'Vande Mataram' is simply a national song without any connotation that could violate the tenets of any religion. But everyone has his own perception, tending to interpret any social-cultural events in terms of religion, which could harm social harmony and co-existence."
He added: "It is ironic that Muslim clerics issued fatwas that singing the song would be an act of desecration. But equally ridiculous is the stand of some Hindu organizations describing as anti-national those who refuse to sing the song. This is a frivolous thing. India is a democratic country and democracy reveres individual freedoms."