Vande Mataram’ Not Objectionable: Khurshid

With controversy heating up on ‘fatwa’ issued against recital of ‘Vande Mataram’ by a top Muslim body, Union Minister Salman Khurshid has said that singing the national song was not objectionable.

At a function in Hyderabad, the minister said that it was unfortunate that the song turned controversial 50 years after it was made as national song.

Khurshid said that the issue of the song was resolved some 50 years ago and could not be taken up for review once again, adding that some great leaders including that of Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind sat together and resolved that some stanzas of ‘Vande Mataram’ would be treated as the national song, the minister told reporters.

Besides, he defended Union Home Minister P Chidambaram and clarified that the minister was not present when the JUH passed resolution at its 30th general session in Deoband on Tuesday, asking Muslims not to recite ‘Vande Mataram’.