Muslim teacher assaulted for not saying ‘Vande Mataram’: In Bihar’s Katihar district, a Muslim teacher being thrashed by some locals after he had refused to sing ‘Vande Mataram’ following the flag-hoisting ceremony on January 26th Republic Day in Abdullahpur.
The video of local residents thrashing a Muslim teacher has gone viral. A Muslim teacher who identified as Afzal Hussain.
After the video goes viral, Hussain said he did not sing ‘Vande Mataram’ as the same is against his religious belief.
The teacher said, “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,” he said.
“Nowhere in the Constitution is it written that saying Vande Mataram is necessary. I could have lost my life,” he said according to news agency ANI.
Education Minister of Bihar district KN Prasad Verma said, “action will be taken if incident of this sort has occurred. National song’s insult is not forgivable at all”.
District education officer Dinesh Chandra Dev denied receiving any complaint regarding the incident.
The officer said “Had we got any such information, an investigation would have been done. But till now we have not got any such complaint,” he said.
Vande Mataram, India’s national song was written by the Bengali poet Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay in 1876.
