Vande Mataram

Politicians and Indian politicians in particular seem to have a penchant for creating new issues for their moment in the spotlight.

It all began when the HRD ministry issued an order that Vande Mataram should be sung in all schools in the country on September 7, the supposed centenary of the song. While I did have Vande Mataram as a prayer everyday in school, I do understand that not everybody would be open to this suggestion. But the last thing that I expected was opposition from our Muslim leaders to the move on religious grounds. I understand the Islamic need to not salute anything other than Allah, but the prayer has a purely symbolic value in its current form where the ‘mother’ is the nation.

The entire issue has been blown out of proportion with Muslim leaders condemning the song as un-Islamic. It did have its roots in a Hindu prayer (to Durga, I think), but it is now a national symbol and needs to be viewed as such.

I don’t hear protests from other communities, or from Hindus who don’t pray to Durga (I don’t) about it being discriminating. Being diverse is very much a part of the Indian identity.

In a country that is predominantly Hindu, Christmas happens to be a holiday for everyone. Should I start coming to work on Christmas and demand another holiday as compensation just because I’m Hindu?

Interpretation of what has national significance is driven by common sense, a quality that is ironically missing in our politicos, the so called elected representatives of the Indian common man. And this has been the status quo for at least the last ten years, if not longer.

If this was always the case, I’m curious to know what Muslim freedom fighters chanted during the pre-independence struggle. Surely not Vande Mataram?

Today’s political leaders (and I mean leaders from all communities) have this strange need to drag out insignificant issues for debate and distort them because there have been no results on the other fronts that really matter.

National symbols are not intended to disrespect any community and they should be recognized for what they are-tokens of being a part of a diverse and dynamic nation.

Let them be.

There was a time when we celebrated our diversity.

Now we seem to be ashamed of it.