New Delhi: Joining the ongoing debate on nationalism, which is being linked to chanting of certain slogans in recent times, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday said that those having reservations to chant 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' shouldn't live in this country.
"Some people say we will not say Bharat Mata ki Jai. Then what? Pakistan ki jai or China ki jai?.. If you want to live in this country then you have to say Bharat Mata ki Jai, otherwise you have no right to live here," Fadnavis said, while addressing a gathering.
Slamming Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for his remark, Chief imam of the All India Imam Organisation (AIIO), Umer Ahmed Ilyasi, said the people on responsible positions should avoid making such statements.
"No one has a right to decide as to who would live in this country or not. If you force certain things on people then it would give rise to hatred. People on such responsible positions should refrain from making such statement," Ilyasi said.
Jamat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) on Saturday came out to back the fatwa issued by leading Islamic seminary Darul Uloom in Deoband against chanting of "Bharat Mata ki jai". JIH said that the attempts being made to use the slogan as a symbol of patriotism are wrong.
Darul Uloom Deoband on Friday issued a fatwa against chanting of 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai', saying that the slogan goes against the tenets of Islam.
"Bharat Mata, according to some Hindu sects, is a goddess and they worship her. For Muslims participating in worshiping a goddess would be un-Islamic, the fatwa said.
AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi had stirred a hornet's nest by rejecting RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's suggestion that the young generation be taught patriotic slogans like ' Bharat Mata ki Jai' stating that he won't chant the slogan "even if a knife is put to his throat".