‘Can’t force Muslims to say Vande Mataram’: Samajwadi MLA sparks row in Maharashtra assembly

The Maharashtra legislative assembly on Wednesday had to be adjourned for ten minutes after Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA Abu Azmi said that Muslims can not be forced to chant ‘Vande Mataram’, prompting noisy protests from BJP MLAs.

The events took place during the third day of the state monsoon assembly session, while a discussion on ‘crimes against women’ was going in.

Azmi said, “Chanting ‘Vande Mataram’ is unacceptable to me. We believe in only one god, and our religion does not permit bowing to anyone other than Allah.”

The remark drew strong objections from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs. Speaker Rahul Narwekar appealed to the protesting MLAs to calm down and appealed to Azmi to stick to the topic at hand.

“Azmi’s comments are irrelevant to the topic. He should focus on the issue listed for the discussion,” Speaker Narwekar said.

However, Azmi stood by his stance, which led to continuous protests from the BJP legislatures. Azmi further brought up a past incident involving a criminal named Aftab, which led to an anti-Muslim procession.

“During the uproar, slogans like ‘Iss desh mein rehna hoga to vande mataram kehna hoga’ [If you want to stay in this country, you will have to chant Vande Mataram] were raised, but we [Muslims] cannot say ‘Vande Mataram’ as our faith in Allah prohibits us from doing so,” Azmi said.

‘Islam doesn’t allow us to bow to anyone’: SP MLA Abu Azmi on ‘Vande Mataram’ row

Devendra Fadnavis, the Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister of Maharashtra replied to Azmi’s comments, saying, “Vande Mataram represents the spirit of millions of Indians, and it is not a religious song. No religion forbids respecting one’s mother. Your sentiments are misplaced.”

However, Azmi refused to change his stance, saying, “I just said that nobody can force Muslims to say Vande Mataram, [and] BJP leaders started creating a ruckus. Supreme Court order states one can’t be forced, they can’t force us to say Vande Mataram… Islam doesn’t allow us to bow to anyone else.”

The remarks prompted loud protests from the other legislative members, which prompted the speaker to adjourn the session for ten minutes.

When the session was reconvened, tensions ran high among the legislators, but the discussion remained on the topic of crimes against women.

BJP condemns SP MLA’s ‘Vande Mataram’ remark, says opposition coalition is anti-India

After Abu Azmi’s comments hit the headlines, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla took to Twitter to condemn the statements, saying that even though SP is a part of the opposition coalition titled ‘INDIA’, its actions are ‘anti India’.

“Samajwadi party is a part of I.N.D.I.A…& its MLA says in the Maharashtra assembly that I will not say Vande Mataram it is against my religion. They go and bow their heads in front of Aurangzeb but shy away from saying Vande Mataram, those who keep India in their name, why their work is always anti-India?…” Poonawalla said, as quoted by ANI.

National Congress Party (NCP) MLA Rohit Pawar weighed in on the debate, saying, “I don’t know his [Abu Azmi’s] exact statement, however, no matter which religion one belongs to everyone should love & respect the country. I believe that no one should speak against the country.”