Recently a controversy was created over the directive of the Uttar Pradesh government which directed all madrasas in the state to unfurl national flag and recite the national anthem on 15th August. The directive also asked the madrasas to photograph/videograph the event.
This soon resulted in the critics calling it a test of patriotism by the Yogi government. This charge was debunked by us in the report which pointed out how it was standard “Sarkari” circular which the Yogi government had issued after being instructed to do so by the Allahabad High Court.
As the issue continued to be in the limelight, there was naturally a curiosity over whether the madrasas would indeed follow the order. Now according to reports, many madrasas across the state deiced to defy those specific orders. As it turns out, Independence Day was indeed celebrated but it was celebrated with conditions.
As reported, three of the biggest madrasas in the state celebrate present in Kanpur, Meerut and Bareilly celebrated the Independence Day by singing Saare jahan se accha but did not record the event by stating that they did not need to give proof of their patriotism. The students at Manzar-e-Islam which is the biggest madrasa in Bareilly, hoisted the Tiranga but did not sing the national anthem which has been the traditional convention.
This was defended by clerics who alleged that the national anthem was written in praise of late British King George V. Thus according to them, it belittled the struggle of our freedom fighters because of which they had unanimously decided not to sing such songs on Independence Day. This conspiracy theory incidentally was refuted by Rabindranath Tagore himself.
This same celebration procedure was also followed in the famous Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulema. When asked about not singing the National Anthem, they reasoned that the lyrics of the national anthem had “Sindh” in it, which is currently in Pakistan. They contended that they could not pray for Pakistan and if the government decided to remove Sindh, they would sing the anthem proudly.
