RSS disputes SGPC claim on 'Vande Mataram'

New Delhi, Sep 6 (UNI) The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) today disputed the claim of the Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee that ''Vande Mataram belongs to one particular community''.

''It is a national song, not the song of one particular community. Everyone should sing it,'' RSS spokesman Ram Madhav said.

The RSS promotes singing of the song and children, irrespective of faith, routinely sing it in the 25,000 Vidya Bharti schools across the country, he said over phone from the US.

Mr Madhav was responding to SGPC president Avtar Singh's comments that 'Vande Mataram' was a song of one particular community.

The SGPC chief asked Sikh educational institutions to sing 'Deh Shiva var mohe', instead, on September 7 when the centenary celebrations of the national song are planned.

Mass recitals of the national song are scheduled in the country tomorrow. While a host of Congress and Left leaders would attend the celebrations in Karol Bagh and at the Red Fort here, directives have been issued in BJP-ruled states to ensure its singing in government offices, schools and colleges.

UNI VN AK DS1445