08-23-2006, 12:08 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>'An attempt by Centre to gain political mileage' </b>
<i>Subrata Mukherjee, noted political scientist and professor of DU</i>
An issue settled long back is unnecessarily being unsettled to score political gains. This is tragic.
Vande Mataram is the National Song of India and there is no dispute on this. The recent controversy is nothing but an attempt by the Central Government to gain political mileage. I wonder why there is a debate at all, as the matter has long been settled. Political parties and Islamic fundamentalists should try and brush up their understanding of history. <b>Are they forgetting that the National Song was first sung in 1896, exactly 110 years ago?</b>Â
The song had been an integral part of the Congress party since its formation and all the controversies related to a part of this song were first settled in the Congress Working Committee and later in the Constituent Assembly. The political parties and Islamic clerics have been raking up this controversy for no rhyme or reason.
<b>During the Calcutta session of the party in 1938, the Congress Working Committee decided that henceforth only the two stanzas of the song would be sung. Top Congress leader like Mahatama Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhas Chandra Bose, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and Fazl-ul-Haque were party to the decision</b>.
I wonder why Muslim clerics can't restrict themselves to this historical decision. This time they have come up with a weird argument that Islam does not allow the Muslims to revere anyone except Allah. This is an act of messing up the whole issue.
Iqbal who composed "Saare Jahan Se Achcha" had a notion of the two-nation theory but still we accepted it. There was no controversy over it. Unless and until we develop a sense of shared identity, India instead of becoming a developed nation will continue to be "a nation in making" as Surendra Nath Banerjea had said. Rather than get into such petty controversies, Government should work in areas where India is still lagging behind. It's high time our politicians stopped playing tricks with us by digging up issues that have been settled long back.
- As told to Praveen Kumar
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<i>Subrata Mukherjee, noted political scientist and professor of DU</i>
An issue settled long back is unnecessarily being unsettled to score political gains. This is tragic.
Vande Mataram is the National Song of India and there is no dispute on this. The recent controversy is nothing but an attempt by the Central Government to gain political mileage. I wonder why there is a debate at all, as the matter has long been settled. Political parties and Islamic fundamentalists should try and brush up their understanding of history. <b>Are they forgetting that the National Song was first sung in 1896, exactly 110 years ago?</b>Â
The song had been an integral part of the Congress party since its formation and all the controversies related to a part of this song were first settled in the Congress Working Committee and later in the Constituent Assembly. The political parties and Islamic clerics have been raking up this controversy for no rhyme or reason.
<b>During the Calcutta session of the party in 1938, the Congress Working Committee decided that henceforth only the two stanzas of the song would be sung. Top Congress leader like Mahatama Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhas Chandra Bose, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and Fazl-ul-Haque were party to the decision</b>.
I wonder why Muslim clerics can't restrict themselves to this historical decision. This time they have come up with a weird argument that Islam does not allow the Muslims to revere anyone except Allah. This is an act of messing up the whole issue.
Iqbal who composed "Saare Jahan Se Achcha" had a notion of the two-nation theory but still we accepted it. There was no controversy over it. Unless and until we develop a sense of shared identity, India instead of becoming a developed nation will continue to be "a nation in making" as Surendra Nath Banerjea had said. Rather than get into such petty controversies, Government should work in areas where India is still lagging behind. It's high time our politicians stopped playing tricks with us by digging up issues that have been settled long back.
- As told to Praveen Kumar
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