Bharat Mata Ki Jai has nothing to do with religion, says Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis

Day after his diktat to all Indians to chant 'Bharat Mata ki Jai', Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today  issued clarification after he found himself embroiled in a controversy over the issue.

Listen to Story

Advertisement
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis

Day after his diktat to all Indians to chant 'Bharat Mata ki Jai', Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today issued clarification after he found himself embroiled in a controversy over the issue.

Fadnavis, in his statement, said that he had given a 50-minute long speech on Saturday in which he only talked about the slogan and Shani Shignapur temple issue for five minutes. "Media picked only 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' and that too only a part of it. It clearly proves that a section of media is interested in creating controversy only," he said, launching an attack on the media.

advertisement

Fadnavis on Saturday said, every Indian will have to chant 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'and those who refuse to chant the slogan should not live in the country.

Opposition have slammed Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis's statement and called it a "ploy to divert attention from relevant issues".

"The people who hold 'bhagwa' flag dearer than the Tricolour want to take India back to the medieval ages," Janata Dal United (JD-U) spokesman KC Tyagi told IANS.

Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Nilotpal Basu called it "tattoo-ism".

"Forcing others to chant 'Bharat mata ki jai' and making statements that those who don't chant it should leave India is not patriotism; it is tattoo-ism. They want to flaunt it like a tattoo on their bodies," Basu told IANS.

Full statement of CM Devendra Fadnavis:

In my 50-minute speech, for 45 long minutes I spoke about Maharashtra's drought situation & development and just for 5 minutes I spoke on Bharat Mata Ki Jai & Shani Shingnapur issue but media picked only 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' and that too only a part of it. It clearly proves that a section of media is interested in creating controversy only .

I also mentioned in my speech yesterday that 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' has nothing to do with religion because I salute those 500 plus patriotic, highly placed and highly respected Muslim Clerics who not only did National Flag hoisting at Mahim Dargah(Mumbai) but also chanted Bharat Mata Ki Jai with a feeling of nationalism and patriotism on 17th March on the occasion of 603rd Urs of Hajrat Makhdum Fateh Ali Mahimi. No media is broadcasting this.

We absolutely have no problem if somebody says Jai Hind or Jai Bharat or Jai Hindustan, but all we object about is when someone says, " I won't say Bharat Mata Ki Jai". There is a limit to Appeasement too.

It is not merely about the slogan but it is about those lakhs and lakhs of freedom fighters who sacrificed their life chanting Bharat Mata Ki Jai, about those thousands and thousands of soldiers who selflessly attained martyrdom chanting Bharat Mata Ki Jai.

advertisement

Those who are opposing it have mala fide interests and intentions. They are those divisive forces who want to create a rift in our country and wish to break the unity. Why should we tolerate it?

Also Read

If you want to live in this country, you have to say Bharat Mata Ki Jai: Devendra Fadnavis