Vande Mataram cannot be yardstick of nationalism

[KashifAsrar]

Loyalty Test



Vande Mataram cannot be yardstick of nationalism
Rajeev Dhavan



Indians are being cajoled to fight for a song. Atal Bihari Vajpayee now wants the controversy closed. For him, the song is no more than a symbol of devotion. But, that is precisely what the controversy is about. The converse proposition is that those who do not sing Vande Mataram are not devoted to India. So, singing Vande Mataram is not a symbol, but emerges as a test. Those who do not agree to being forced to sing the song are branded as opposed to Bharat Mata.
Devotion is a matter of inner feeling. You can persuade but not force people to have inner feelings. Symbolism is another matter. In our context, national symbols such as flags and songs were 19th century inventions to coalesce and promote what Benedict Anderson called ‘imagined nations’. Perhaps, what the BJP is really saying is that their idea of India is only ‘imagined’ and they need to put it together through songs and appeals to Bharat Mata. The upshot is that I cannot love my India for what it is worth, but I must accept and propagate the BJP symbols of nationhood to prove my worth.
But, why should a song like Vande Mataram, which was a song of liberation, be transformed into a song of oppression? Why should it become a devotional litmus test of Indian nationalism? That is what it has become. Its divisiveness is as prominent as the controversy that fuels it. Newspapers and magazines are full of news and pictures on Muslims agreeing to and singing the Vande Mataram with gusto. Do they have to be coerced into demonstrating their national fervour? Sonia Gandhi is attacked for missing a Vande Mataram function. Not to sing Vande Mataram may put us in peril. We may not be attacked, but we may be subjected to public obloquy. Equally, we may be socially targeted and challenged.
The Constitution’s guaranteed freedom of speech, which includes the right not to speak or sing, is based on the good common sense that restrictions to free speech must be (a) reasonable and (b) clearly related to certain aspects of public interest. Being forced to comply with the BJP’s symbolism of India is not one of them. Although in the Jehovah’s Witnesses case (1986), the Supreme Court struck down Kerala’s compulsory order to sing the national anthem on technical grounds, there was much wisdom in not forcing singing the national anthem but simply ensuring that it was respected. Americans remain so even if they claim the right not to salute the national symbols of flag and anthem. Even during the Second World War their supreme court declared in 1943 that compulsory flag salutes were not necessary. In 1990, the court invalidated laws which punished the mere desecration of the American flag. India’s Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971 does not force compulsory honour but indicts deliberate dishonour.
But why this fight over symbols now? Whose symbols are these? Who contrived them for contemporary consumption? Why exactly are they being forced down as loyalty tests? It is not necessary to get drawn into controversies over the historical or even historic role of Vande Mataram. The real question is the reason for the revival of Vande Mataram as a symbol and test for nationalist loyalty. The revival comes from the BJP and sangh parivar. Their goals are not the goals of a secular India. BJP’s policy of revivalism is entirely political for the purpose of inciting social sentiments to create vote banks based on divisiveness. BJP’s rise to power through the anti-Babri masjid movement and by directly and indirectly targeting minorities is well known — even to a point of destroying libraries and paintings. But we must get to the root of what the sangh parivar is trying to do. What the BJP has tried to construct is a new pseudo-religion. The title of this faith is Hindutva. Its colour is saffron. Its credentials are aggressively coercive. But the BJP obviously feels that its newly devised Hindutva faith needs something more. For them, the faith needs a song. The revival of Vande Mataram now provides a song to support their new faith. Vande Mataram deserves better treatment than to become the instrument of communal politics.
It does not seem to matter if Vande Mataram, which was meant to unite people, is now used to divide them. During colonial rule, Vande Mataram was appropriated as a counterblast to the British making ‘God Save the Queen’ compulsory. The effect of Vande Mataram was electric. The constituent assembly honoured the song.
No one wants to dishonour Vande Mataram. It has its place in history. But advocating the compulsory singing of Vande Mataram is not to honour the song but to add fuel to a new Hindutva and to target minorities, especially Muslims, with a loyalty test. The parivar creates communal tension and then pretends to complain about its creation. To create provocative friction by coercive compulsion is destructive. It is targeting besieged minorities that is anti-national.
The writer is a senior Supreme Court advocate.



This is the article which was published on editorial page of TOI dated 13th Sep 2006.
Kashif

 

[Tiki Tam Tam]

We should not sing the National Anthem and also not hoist the national Flag.

It is against the religious principles of Jehovah's Witness and therefore why invite strife and oppression by asking them to sing the National Anthem of hoist the Flag?

Mohammed Arif's stanza (that are applicable) in Urdu is on this forum.

We should not fight over symbols.

Pride in oneself and the nation will get self generated.

And more the controversies, more the court cases and more lawyers will ride BMWs and Rolls!

 

[Awesome]

It's about freewill. In Dubai wherever I've seen the Pakistani national anthem is sounded, Indians too stand up out of freewill and respect for Pakistanis.

They are by no means required to do so.

The thing is India needs to modify its national Anthem and flag to match its claims of a secular nation. In it's current form it's not Indian enough. That is if India really IS secular, and isn't a Hindu nation to begin with.

On one hand for the sake of portrayal to the western world it's a secular naiton but yet it wants to keep Hinduism alive in national and patriotic symbols. Indians want be nationalistic and patriotic but all of them can't be.

 

[Awesome]

That's MMA, they are protesting for religious reasons.

I am glad for once one of these fake Miss Pakistan's won something for a change!

The logical protest would've been that a Miss Pakistan should be representative of a Pakistani "miss". And she's not. And she's American. But its not the end of the world.

Protection of symbols are ok, but don't make anyone worship them forcibly.

 

[Neo]

It's about freewill. In Dubai wherever I've seen the Pakistani national anthem is sounded, Indians too stand up out of freewill and respect for Pakistanis.

They are by no means required to do so.

The thing is India needs to modify its national Anthem and flag to match its claims of a secular nation. In it's current form it's not Indian enough. That is if India really IS secular, and isn't a Hindu nation to begin with.

On one hand for the sake of portrayal to the western world it's a secular naiton but yet it wants to keep Hinduism alive in national and patriotic symbols. Indians want be nationalistic and patriotic but all of them can't be.

Well said Asim!

 

[Bull]

It's about freewill. In Dubai wherever I've seen the Pakistani national anthem is sounded, Indians too stand up out of freewill and respect for Pakistanis.

They are by no means required to do so.

The thing is India needs to modify its national Anthem and flag to match its claims of a secular nation. In it's current form it's not Indian enough. That is if India really IS secular, and isn't a Hindu nation to begin with.

On one hand for the sake of portrayal to the western world it's a secular naiton but yet it wants to keep Hinduism alive in national and patriotic symbols. Indians want be nationalistic and patriotic but all of them can't be.

Asim, would you bother explaining what you meant by the underlined portion?

The national anthem have nothing hinduistic abt it!!

 

[Flintlock]

The thing is India needs to modify its national Anthem and flag to match its claims of a secular nation. In it's current form it's not Indian enough. That is if India really IS secular, and isn't a Hindu nation to begin with.

On one hand for the sake of portrayal to the western world it's a secular naiton but yet it wants to keep Hinduism alive in national and patriotic symbols. Indians want be nationalistic and patriotic but all of them can't be.

I think you are confused between Vande Mataram, the national song, and Jana Gana Mana, the natioal anthem.

In Vande Mataram, the country is personified as a "Mother" and saluted. This, for whatever reason, is not acceptable to muslims. Hence the controversy.

The national flag and national anthem are perfectly secular. If you wish, you can read up on their details.

It is natural that Vande Mataram, which is a beautiful song with a rich history to it, brings tears to the eyes of many who hear it, tends to stir up emotions, especially when some people refuse to sing it publically.

However, patriotism is judged by actions, not words, and even if the filthiest murder sings the song, it does not make him patriotic, and even if the most patriotic muslim refuses to sing it, it does not make him a traitor.