Vande Mataram row: It's a 'matter of choice', those refusing to sing are not anti-nationals, says Naqvi

New Delhi: Referring to Madras High Court order, which made singing of 'Vande Mataram' mandatory in the Tamil Nadu schools, Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said that singing the national song was a "matter of choice" and those refusing to sing it could not be dubbed as anti- nationals.

Talking to news agency PTI, the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Parliamentary Affairs and Minority Affairs, said,"Singing Vande Mataram is absolutely an individual's choice. Those who want to sing can sing it, those who don't, may not. Not singing it does not make one anti-national." He added that however, if someone deliberately opposed the singing of the national song, written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, it was "in bad taste" and "not in the interest of the country".

Earlier on Saturday, sparks flew in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly as the ruling BJP MLAs slammed Samajwadi Party's Abu Asim Azmi, who opposed a demand for making the singing of 'Vande Mataram' mandatory in the schools and colleges of the state.

Citing the Madras HC verdict, BJP MLA Raj Purohit said it should be followed by the schools and colleges in Maharashtra as well. Azmi said he would not sing 'Vande Mataram' even if he was "thrown out of the country", while AIMIM MLA Waris Pathan said he would not sing it "even if a revolver is put to my head". Speaking at Shirdi, state PWD Minister Chandrakant Patil today said no one should have a problem saying 'Vande Mataram' and 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'.