Indian Hindu, Muslim groups tussle over song

(Reuters) NEW DELHI – India’s opposition Hindu nationalists and Muslim groups are heading for a confrontation over a controversial move to get all Indians to sing the national song on the centenary of its adoption next month.

The row was sparked this month after the government asked all schools, including Islamic madrasas, to get students to sing the song, which is separate from the national anthem, on Sept. 7.

Within days, it backed down and made singing voluntary after Muslim leaders objected.

Muslim groups say the Sanskrit language song, “Vande Mataram”, penned by Bengali poet Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, has strong connotations of Hindu deity worship because it reveres India as a holy goddess, which is against Islam’s basic tenets.

But the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has pounced on the government’s climbdown, saying it smacked of discrimination and encouraged a lack of patriotism.

Just as a reminder that religious extremism and intolerance are not exclusive to any single religion…