I was very shocked to learn a new truth of Indian National Anthem today. ‘Bharat’ which is India, is only the ‘Bhagya Vidhata’ of the Hindus living in India. It’s not the same for those who belong to another most important religious community – Muslims. This is not the general truth, however, it has come in the form of new philosophy from the some of the Muslim parents in Allahabad who are sending their children to a private school owned by Mohammad Zia-ul-Haq.
According to these parents of almost 130 Muslim children going to this private school, Muslims should not sing the national anthem as their Bhagya Vidhata is not the country India, but Allah. Thus, the national anthem, as it contains Bharat, becomes derogatory to their religion and they have successfully ‘banned’ national anthem, Saraswati Vandana and Vande Mataram in that school for more than ten years now. What is this? We have still these unwelcomingly orthodox families who are into the play of words and put the nation on the second position after the religion? Today it is about the national anthem and tomorrow it will be about the national flag – hey, it has saffron and we will not hoist it. We will make our own flag! Just imagine what will their children learn and why not their mind will be radicalised! This news has come upon me as an utter shock…
This school in Allahabad is run by a Muslim person and he has cared for the sentiments of those 130 students who are Muslim. What about those more than 200 students who are Hindus? If the religious bifurcation made by Zia-Ul-Haq implies that only Hindus can sing the national anthem and not the Muslims, then, my question is, why do you admit those children who come from the Hindu families and ban them from singing it even on the day of our independence? Is this justified? The greatest problem, one might easily decipher, is that what the state government has been doing since this absurdity has been going on on a school campus for more than 10 years? Mulayam Singh Yadav (as for me, Akhilesh is too ‘young’ to look into these matters of national importance) or Mayavati, whosoever be on the chair, the situation is same!
As a sign of protest, the principal along with seven other teachers has resigned from the school. The principal is also mulling about a legal notice against the owner.
It is a great dilemma that when our Prime Minister shouts every day ‘India First’ there are some of those radical minds who teach their children everything but what is against the national sentiments. If someone dares question them, they hide their heads behind the shield of religion and cry for protection in the courts. If it is all that you teach your children, don’t worry if they are easily full of anti-nation agendas and start sympathizing with those like Burhan Wanis. After all, Wani was also anything but a martyr for some of the people of the mindset of all those parents who oppose national anthem! Should I expect a primetime on this? After all, this issue directly relates to the national interest as parents are fueling the anti-national sentiment in their children and possibly creating some potential threats to the national integrity without any doubt! Is patriotism only limited to a particular community?
