A big brawl broke out between a teacher and locals in Katihar, Bihar when the former paid no heed to India’s ‘Vande Mataram’ song after hoisting the flag on Republic Day. The primary school teacher identified as Hussain refused to sing the song as he chose to obey his religion than the nation in the first place.
He stated that ‘Vande Mataram’ is against his religious beliefs and that he should abide by the Constitution rules. The video of the protest has gone widespread on social media after which Hussain told ANI that “We believe in Allah and saying or singing ‘Vande Mataram’ is against my religious beliefs and the Constitution also does not say that I must sing the song”.
Bihar Education Minister on a primary school teacher Afzal Hussain who refused to sing 'Vande Mataram' on Jan 26 in Katihar: Action will be taken if incident of this sort has occurred. National song's insult is not forgivable at all. https://t.co/rcYxIpTdhW
— ANI (@ANI) February 7, 2019
Angered by his behaviour towards the nation, locals and others in the school allegedly started smashing him when he denied singing after flag hoisting. Hussain told the reporters that he could have almost “lost his life” after he was assaulted.
The district education officer by the name of Dinesh Chandra Dev told reporters that he had not received any such complaint yet. “Had we got any such information, an investigation would have been done,” Dev said.
Katihar:Scuffle broke out when a primary school teacher Afzal Hussain refused to sing 'Vande Mataram' on Jan 26;Hussain says,"We worship Allah & Vande Mataram means 'vandana'(worship) of Bharat which is against our belief.Constitution doesn't say it's necessary to sing it".#Bihar pic.twitter.com/JjyEWpGRGt
— ANI (@ANI) February 7, 2019
Ahead of Republic Day, Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband gave a strict order for its students to not venture out on January 26 as they may be exposed to harassment. Moreover, they obstructed Vande Mataram song from being sung in its classes as per a report in The Times Of India
The important circular was issued by the management of the seminary’s hostel department. It further ordered the students to avoid getting into arguments with anyone. The Darul Uloom Deoband circular reads: “Only in the cases of emergency, one must travel. And in such circumstances, it is better not to engage in any dispute or argument of any kind.”
The Saharanpur-based seminary asked its students against travelling in trains as well. Navbharat Times first reported the head of the hostel department that the students go out of the seminary on January 26 since it is a national holiday. The circular has been issued in a bid to block students from getting into any unwanted situation.
According to TOI, Muslim youths were severely beaten up by over a dozen men on a passenger train in Baghpat in November 2017. Previously, 5 Islamic scholars got whipped on board the Delhi-Saharanpur train in May 2015.