Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti condemns fatwa against ''Bharat Mata Ki Jai'' slogan

Lucknow: Condemning the fatwa issued by leading Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband, Minister of State for Food Processing Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti on Friday said denying people to chant `Bharat Mata Ki Jai` slogan amounted to insulting the freedom fighters.

"It is showing the fundamentalist side of Islam. Denying `Bharat Mata Ki Jai` shows disrespect to martyrs of the country. It shows their mentality. They should understand that they are not living in Pakistan," said Jyoti.

Darul Uloom Deoband today issued a fatwa against chanting of `Bharat Mata Ki Jai`, saying that the slogan goes against the tenets of Islam."Bharat Mata, according to some Hindu sects, is a goddess and they worship her. For Muslims participating in worshiping a goddess would be un-Islamic, the fatwa said.The fatwa added, "We love our country, but we do not worship it, Islam allows worshiping only one God."

AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi had stirred a hornet`s nest by rejecting RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat`s suggestion that the young generation be taught patriotic slogans like `Bharat Mata ki Jai` stating that he won`t chant the slogan "even if a knife is put to his throat"."I don`t chant that slogan. What are you going to do Bhagwat sahab?" Owaisi had said at a public rally in Latur.

Leaders of various political parties, including the BJP and Congress, have condemned Owaisi`s stance.Prime Minister Narendra Modi was greeted with chants of `Bharat Mata Ki Jai` slogans as soon as he climbed the stage by people sitting in the audience when he went to deliver the inaugural lecture at the World Sufi Forum on March 17.