Nothing wrong if one doesn't recite Vande Mataram: Union minister Ramdas Athawale

Thane: Union minister Ramdas Athawale has said there was nothing wrong if one didn't recite the national song 'Vande Mataram.'

Athawale, the leader of Republican Party of India (A), said the issue of the national song was being brought out deliberately to cause feud among communities.

"Everybody should recite Vande Mataram, but if it is not recited what will go wrong?" he asked, while addressing the Maharashtra Gramin Patrakar Sangh's 11th anniversary at Kalyan near here yesterday.

"If one does not recite Vande Mataram nothing is wrong in that," said the minister of state for social justice and empowerment.

The Madras high court recently made singing 'Vande Mataram' compulsory in all government schools, colleges and universities in Tamil Nadu at least once a week.

A BJP MLA in Maharashtra recently demanded the implementation of the ruling in schools and colleges of the state, sparking a political slugfest with legislators of some other parties opposing any such move.