The Indian Express
New Delhi, 8 June 1997
30. Vande Mataram �dispute�
at BJP Muslim meeting
Express News Service

NEW DELHI, JUNE 7 - A MISUNDERSTANDING between firebrand BJP leader Uma Bharati and her senior Sikander Bakht over �Vande Mataram� created a flutter at the National Muslim Youth Convention organised by the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha here today.

In a departure from BJP tradition, the convention did not begin with the national song, inviting Bakht�s wrath. Chiding the Muslim community for what he called its well-known objections to Vande Mataram, the BJP leader told the gathering that he was �ashamed� by this.

Vande Mataram means salutation to the Motherland, he said. �Can�t we salute our Motherland? Why should we be ashamed of it?� he asked.

Bharati, however, clarified later that she had scrapped the song as the president of the Morcha because no one had come prepared to sing it. �No one knew all the words or had practised the song,� she said in defence of her decision. �Unfortunately, Bakhtji got the wrong impression.�*

Bakht told ENS that he was not upset with Bharati for her decision. �She did it out of consideration for the Muslim community. I am upset that Muslims feel this way about the song. Why should this feeling be there at all?� he said.
 

Footnotes:

* Uma Bharati has perfected the art of lying with a straight face. Hindus should beware of double-faced firebrands like her. She is quite capable of spitting venom against Hindus and Hinduism in her usual firebrand fashion if her claim as an OBC leader, or as a warrior for woman�s rights, or even as a spokesperson for the dalits is not conceded in due course.
 

     

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