Chandigarh: As the debate over nationalism continues to rock the nation, Shiromani Akali Dal(Amritsar) leader Simranjit Singh Mann on Monday said that Sikhs don’t worship women in any form thus they can’t chant 'Bharat Mata ki Jai', a report said on Tuesday.
According to a report published in the 'Hindustan Times', Mann, who is president of Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar), said Sikhs can't say 'Vande Mataram'.
Taking pot shots at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) leader said the religious preachings of holy book Geeta shouldn't be enforced onto people from other religions as it has been done in Haryana.
Last week, All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen legislator Waris Pathan was suspended from Maharashtra Assembly after he refused to say 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'.
Few days back, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi had said that he would not say 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' even if a knife is put to his throat.
"I don't chant that slogan. What are you going to do, Bhagwat sahab," the Lok Sabha MP from Hyderabad had said, referring to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's remark that the new generation needed to be taught to hail "Mother India".
A local court in Hyderabad has directed Neredmet police to register a case against Owaisi.
