'I Respect Vande Mataram But...': SP MLA Abu Azmi After Ruckus In Maharashtra Assembly Over His Remarks

Abu Azmi’s remark stoked a controversy as the BJP took a dig at the Opposition and asked if this was their idea of ‘INDIA’, the newly formed coalition of 26 parties.

Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Asim Azmi arrives to attend the Monsoon Session of Maharashtra Assembly.

Source : PTI

New Delhi: Clearing the air on his remark on ‘Vande Mataram’ in the Maharashtra Assembly, Samajwadi Party legislator Abu Azmi said he respects the national song but he cannot chant it since his religion taught him to bow only to god, news agency PTI reported. “I respect Vande Mataram but I can't say it because my religion taught me that we don't bow to anyone other than Allah,” PTI quoted Azmi as saying. The development comes after the assembly session was adjourned following a ruckus that broke out over Azmi’s remark when he said chanting ‘Vande Mataram’ was unacceptable to him.

VIDEO | "I respect Vande Mataram but I can't say it because my religion taught me that we don't bow to anyone other than Allah," says Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Azmi after a row erupted in Maharashtra Assembly following his remark 'chanting Vande Mataram was unacceptable to him'. pic.twitter.com/VfCmpDtsFD

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) July 19, 2023

Raising the issue of a riot in Sambhajinagar district, Azmi had said, “Some people say that if one has to live in India, `Vande Mataram' must be chanted. We cannot do it. We believe only in one god.”

Azmi’s remark stoked a controversy as the BJP took a dig at the Opposition and asked if this was their idea of ‘INDIA’, the newly formed coalition of 26 parties ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

A ruckus broke out in the assembly following his remark. Although Speaker Rahul Narwekar appealed the legislators to calm down, the protest continued, prompting Narwekar to adjourn the House for 10 minutes.

"Abu Azmi of SP says 'I won't say Vande Mataram, I won't bow my head as my religion doesn't allow it'," BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said in a tweet. "Is this idea of I.N.D.I.A? Or is this anti-India? SP is a part of this alleged I.N.D.I.A," he tweeted.

Abu Azmi of SP says I won’t say Vande Mataram- I won’t bow my head as my religion doesn’t allow

Is this idea of I.N.D.I.A? Or is this Anti India?

SP is a part of this alleged I.N.D.I.A

India in name but not in agenda! Earlier SP released terrorists & patronised Yakub,Afzal… pic.twitter.com/AOV61BC8Iy

— Shehzad Jai Hind (@Shehzad_Ind) July 19, 2023

Poonawalla further alleged that though ‘India’ is in the name of the opposition parties' alliance, it is not in their agenda. "Earlier SP released terrorists and patronised Yakub (Memon), Afzal (Guru). Congress questioned the surgical strike, Balakot, and 26/11 was blamed on India, not Pakistan. This is their true face," he said.

"Will Mamata-di, Kharge ji, Rahul ji tell us their stand?" Poonawalla added.