Eminent personalities from the Muslim community have said that chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’s remarks that those who do not want to say Bharat Mata ki Jai have no right to stay in the country is u
Eminent personalities from the Muslim community have said that chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’s remarks that those who do not want to say Bharat Mata ki Jai have no right to stay in the country is unfounded and an effort by the ruling party to draw the attention of people from real issues and divide the populace on religious lines. Muslim clerics and thinkers have further said that saying Bharat Mata ki jai as long as it is in the context of the nation (India) is something that each and every patriotic Muslim feels and questioning the patriotism of the Muslims and hurtful to the community.
Speaking about the CM’s statement, Maulana Mustaqeem Azmi said, “It is evident that the CM is only trying to draw the people’s attention from the real issues and it is the same strategy being used by the ruling party all over the country. Muslims have no problem in saying ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ as long as it is in the context of India but if it is aimed at eulogizing a goddess by the same name then it is against the freedom of religion of an Indian that is espoused in the constitution.”
“This is a ploy of the RSS and the CM should be wary of the statements he makes unless he wants to be regarded as a hardliner,” Mr Azmi further said.
Dr Zeenat Shaukat Ali, Islamic Research Scholar and Founder of Wisdom Foundation concurred with Azmi and said, “Why is the chief minister raking up the issue and trying to create social disharmony by making such immature statements. If his statement is aimed at questioning the patriotism of the Muslims then it is hurtful as all Muslims feel proud of India and being Indians. Saying Bharat Mata Ki Jai is akin to saying Long live Mother India and no patriotic Muslim has any problem is saying it. Divide and rule policy will not work and the time is gone. People are much more aware of what is happening.”
However, Saeed Noori of Raza Academy had an aggressive opinion about Mr Fadnavis’s statement and said that the fact that many BJP leaders kept on demanding that everyone says Bharat Mata ki Jai was intended to eulogise the goddess Bharat Mata and was against the basic principals of Muslims. “Who is Fadnavis to tell us what to say and what not to say. We are proud to be Indians but why do we need to prove our love for the nation by uttering the words which he or the RSS wants us to say. The fact that people from different communities are returning their awards is indicative of the their discontentment with the BJP’s brand of patriotism,” said Mr Noori.
Congress, meanwhile, alleged that chief minister Devendra Fadnavis is deliberately making such statements to divert his failure. “Devendra Fadnavis has failed in every sector and he want to hide his failure from the people. That’s why he gave statement on Bharat Mata ki Jai,” said Sachin Sawant, Congress spokesperson.
He further said there is unrest among farmers and the common man against the BJP government. “People are chanting slogans against the chief minister such as ‘Devendra Fadnavis Murdabad’. This is a sign of his failure. He must focus on resolving issues instead of making such childish statements,” said Mr Sawant.
Nawab Malik, spokesperson of Nationalist Congress Party, said the chief minister is trying to divide society. “It’s BJP’s line from Centre to state that when you realise you could not fulfill assurance given to the people, raise some emotional issues, which will divert the mind of society,” Mr Malik said. He added that the CM is echoing RSS’ ideology.
