The Yogi Adityanath government on Monday had issued orders to Uttar Pradesh madrasas to hoist tricolour and chant “Bharat Mata ki Jai” on Independence Day. The orders, according to the reports, were issued to inculcate patriotism in the students. The diktat came a month after the government decided to introduce a dress code for students attending madrasas in the state.
Hours later, Uttar Pradesh’s Minority Welfare minister Chaudhary Laxmi Narain said chanting ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ was a natural way of expressing one’s love for the country, especially after flag hoisting on Independence Day, and every citizen should follow it. He wondered what is the need of issuing it as an order as it should come naturally to people.
“Where is the need to issue a directive in this regard to madrasa? Every time the Tricolour goes up and the national anthem is played out almost everyone invariably chants ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’,” the minister said
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But the minister whose statement came a day after the controversial chairman of UP Shia Central Waqf Board Waseem Rizvi directed around 15,000 madrasas, schools and colleges being run on waqf property to compulsorily chant ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ after the flag hoisting ceremony, questioned the need for such a directive.
“Madrasas or institutions which receive government aid will follow these directives as it will be a compulsion for them. I think people are confusing singing of national anthem with the national song,” said Zafaryab Jilani, senior high court lawyer and secretary of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB). “All of us respect national anthem and the national flag and nobody has any objection on this count,” he said.
Unlike last year, the government has not issued any instructions to videograph Independence Day celebrations in madarsas.
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