The Jamiat Ulama-e-Maharashtra has rebuked AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi and MLA Waris Pathan for playing into the hands of the BJP by taking an aggressive stand on the issue of saying ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’, the utterance of which is not against the shariah or religion in any way. The Jamiat has, however, said that they are against the “coercive” methods being used by the BJP to dictate what people should say or not and have blamed the RSS for creating a rift in the nation by “hate-mongering” so that the attention of the people is diverted from the “failure” of the government to deliver on their promises.
Speaking about the furore raised over MIM MLA Mr Pathan’s refusal and ultimate suspension from the Vidhan Sabha on Wednesday, Maulana Mustaqeem Azmi, president of Jamiat Ulama-e-Maharashtra said Mr Pathan was naïve and got drawn into the controversy for no reason at all. “While the MLAs had no right to force Pathan to say anything, he should have acted maturely and avoided the controversy altogether. Similarly, Owaisi could also have remained silent but he got carried away and reacted emotionally. The reactions of Owaisi and Pathan has given the BJP a chance to portray the entire Muslim community as anti-national and divert the attention of the people from the main issues,” said Mr Azmi.
He justified his allegation and said that the voice of dissent was being heard from non-Muslims whether it be the protestors at JNU or the people who were returning their awards. “The people of India are fed up of the escalating costs of living and the rising taxes and getting impatient. The government knows it’s treading on shaky grounds and hence is trying to rake up issues and Owaisi and Pathan are just adding fuel to fire,” said Mr Azmi.
When asked whether there was anything wrong in saying ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’, Maulana Azmi said that it was similar to saying ‘Saare Jahan se Achcha Hindustan Hamara’. “The shariah only restricts ascribing the position of Allah to anyone else, hence we refuse to say Vande Mataram,” said Mr Azmi.
