Muslim teacher beaten up for refusing to sing ‘Vande Mataram’ on Republic Day

A Muslim teacher, Afzal Hussain, in Katihar district of Bihar was thrashed by locals after he refused to sing ‘Vande Mataram’, after the flag-hoisting ceremony on Republic Day, January 26, 2019.

The video of local people beating up the primary school teacher has gone viral on social media.

Hussain had later said that he did not sing ‘Vande Mataram’ because it was against his religious belief.

“We believe in Allah and ‘Vande Mataram’ is against our belief. The term means vandana (praise in Hindi) of Bharat Mata which is not what we believe in. Nowhere in the Constitution is it written that singing Vande Mataram is necessary. I could have lost my life,” he said, according to news agency ANI.

Commenting on the incident, Bihar Education Minister KN Prasad Verma said, “action will be taken if an incident of this sort has occurred. The National song’s insult is completely unforgivable.”

District education officer Dinesh Chandra Dev told reporters that he has not received any complaint regarding the incident. “Had we got any such information, an investigation would have been done. But till now we have not got any such complaint,” he said.

The National song of India, ‘Vande Mataram’, has sparked controversies in the past. Many Muslims say the song in Sanskrit is a hymn to the Hindu goddess Durga and it is against the tenets of Islam to sing it.