BJP says opponents of `Vande Mataram` should leave India

New Delhi, Aug 20: BJP on Sunday condemned the refusal by some Muslim clerics to abide by a central directive on compulsory singing of `Vande Mataram` in schools on September 7 saying those who oppose the national song should “leave the country”.

“Those who oppose our national song should better leave the country. Their opposition is a reflection of their separatist mindset,” senior BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said here.

“Every faith preaches patriotism. Those who are opposing singing of Vande Mataram in the name of Islam are going against the tenets of the faith,” he said.

Citing religious reasons, some Muslim leaders have opposed the central directive to all schools to recite the first two stanzas of the national song at 11 am on September 7 to mark the centenary of its adoption.

“Reciting Vande Mataram is against the tenets of the Shariat (Islamic law),” Zafaryab Jilani, a member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), said in Lucknow yesterday.

“There are some lines in Vande Mataram which go against our religion,” he said.

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