‘Chant ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ or Face Action’: Shia Waqf Board’s Diktat

The Uttar Pradesh Shia Waqf Board has issued an order making it mandatory for all institutions linked to it to unfurl the Tricolour on the occasion of Independence Day. Besides, it has asked everyone to chant ‘Bharat mata ki jai’ after unfurling the national flag. The order said that anyone found violating the order will invite punitive action.

UP Waqf Board Chairman Waseem Rizvi, who had previously moved the Supreme Court with a petition favouring a Ram Mandir at the disputed site in Ayodhya, said that the ‘Bharat mata ji jai’ is a ‘victory slogan’ and there has nothing in it against Islam. He said that all Madrasas, schools, colleges and

properties linked to the Board will celebrate the Independence Day with high spirits and will also chant the slogan.

“On August 15, after the national anthem, the slogan of ‘Bharat mata ki jai’ must be raised. And those institutes who violate the order, we will initiate action against them,” Rizvi said.

The order is bound to spark a controversy as Sunni Muslim clerics argue that raising the ‘Bharat mata ki jai’ slogan against the tenants of the Islam. According to their argument, ‘Bharat mata’ in the slogan is a deity and worshipping any deity is prohibited in Islam.

The slogan has sparked a political debate on previous occasions too. Leaders of the ruling BJP and opposition parties have been caught on camera arguing whether raising slogan ‘Bharat mata ki jai’ by Muslims is unIslamic. In
Maharashtra recently, a BJP MLA was seen asking an AIMIM MLA to chant the slogan or go to Pakistan.