A Sikh politician has come up with a unique reason for refusing to chant 'Bharat Mata ki jai' — he said that his religion doesn't permit worshipping women, and even though he respects 'Bharat Mata', no Sikh could worship her.
"We (Sikhs) can say 'Bharat Mata ki fateh' but not 'jai' because that would make us Hindus," Simranjit Singh Mann, president of Shiromani Akali Dal's Amritsar wing, said yesterday.
Sikh religion doesn't include any form of idol-worship, as Sikhs exclusively follow the teachings of Guru Granth Sahib and believe in one "rab" (God).
"Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, Arun Jaitley, have all said that those who won't chant 'Bharat Mata ki jai' can't be patriotic, and a case will be pursued against them like it happened in the Maharashtra assembly against a Muslim MLA," he said. "Even Congress, which always claims to have no religious bias, took the BJP's and Sena's side and allowed the MLA to be ousted."
"We can't do this. We respect the Mata but we can't worship her. Sikhs should say ‘Waheguru ji ka Khalsa, Waheguru ji ki Fateh’."
The issue of chanting 'Bharat Mata ki jai' has already rankled several Indians, as the slogan has Hindu nationalist roots. A Maharashtra MLA and leader of India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), Asaduddin Owaisi, was suspended from the state assembly last week for saying he won't chant the slogan even at knifepoint.
“The Constitution does not say it. We will say Jai Hind. We won’t chant 'Bharat Mata ki jai'," AIMIM legislator Waris Pathan said in the assembly.
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"We (Sikhs) can say 'Bharat Mata ki fateh' but not 'jai' because that would make us Hindus," Simranjit Singh Mann, president of Shiromani Akali Dal's Amritsar wing, said yesterday.
Sikh religion doesn't include any form of idol-worship, as Sikhs exclusively follow the teachings of Guru Granth Sahib and believe in one "rab" (God).
"Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, Arun Jaitley, have all said that those who won't chant 'Bharat Mata ki jai' can't be patriotic, and a case will be pursued against them like it happened in the Maharashtra assembly against a Muslim MLA," he said. "Even Congress, which always claims to have no religious bias, took the BJP's and Sena's side and allowed the MLA to be ousted."
"We can't do this. We respect the Mata but we can't worship her. Sikhs should say ‘Waheguru ji ka Khalsa, Waheguru ji ki Fateh’."
The issue of chanting 'Bharat Mata ki jai' has already rankled several Indians, as the slogan has Hindu nationalist roots. A Maharashtra MLA and leader of India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), Asaduddin Owaisi, was suspended from the state assembly last week for saying he won't chant the slogan even at knifepoint.
“The Constitution does not say it. We will say Jai Hind. We won’t chant 'Bharat Mata ki jai'," AIMIM legislator Waris Pathan said in the assembly.
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