Muslims not against Vande Mataram: Arjun Singh

Varanasi, Aug 19 (UNI) In wake of his letter to Uttar Pradesh government asking it to advise all schools to have recitals of Vande Mataram on September 7, union HRD minister Arjun Singh today said it would be incorrect to presume that Muslims were against the move.

''I do not think Muslims are opposed to the recital of Vande Mataram,'' he told reporters after laying the foundation of Rajiv Gandhi South Campus of BHU in adjacent Mirzapur district.

Mr Singh had written a letter to UP chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav to advise schools about recital of first two stanzas of the National Song at 1100 hrs on September 7 to mark the completion of the year-long celebrations to commemorate the adoption of national song.

Incidentally, the Vande Mataram was adopted at Varanasi session of AICC in 1905.

Asked if the issue could snowball into a controversy especailly in UP, the senior Congress minister said it would be immature to presume it.

However, there is already a strong reaction among Muslims with its clerics opposing the move calling recitation of Vande Mataram against the tenets of Islam.

Mr Singh remained non-committal over a query about the alleged indecent and objectionable language used against freedom fighters and certain castes and sections of the society in school textbooks allegedly brought out by NCERT.

''The matter was raised in Parliament yesterday and I would clarify the same in House on Monday,'' he informed.

As many as 1,000 students would be imparted education in South Campus. The University Grants Commission (UGC) had already granted Rs six crore and a further Rs 10 crore would be given to the Campus for developing it into a centre of excellence.

Lauding the efforts of late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in education sector, Mr Singh said it was the dynamism of the former that he could realise his 'youth vision' in the country.

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