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Monday, August 21, 2006
Ustad Bismillah Khan's Legacy and Vande Mataram Controversy OffStumped For All Things Right of Center, Bringing a Right of Centre Reality Check to Indian Politics, News Media Reporting and Opinion through Blogs and Podcasts. -- The legendary musician Ustad Bismillah Khan was buried today with full state honours in Varnasi. The maestro passed away early on Monday after a cardiac arrest. He was 90. He had been admitted to the ICU of Heritage Hospital in Varanasi last week. Ustad Bismillah Khan was the third classical musician after Pt Ravi Shankar and M S Subbulakshmi to be awarded the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian honour in the country. He was also honoured with the Sangeet Natak Akademi award, the Tansen award as well as the Padma Vibhushan. But holds Ustad Bismillah Khan in unique esteem in the eyes of all Indians is his life and times spent in Varanasi where he played shehnai player in Muharram Processions, the Ganges Ghats and the famous Visvanath temple. The Ustad's demise comes at a time when another controversy has errupted in Uttar Pradesh over Imam Bukhari's comments in response to the reciting of Vande Mataram by Muslims. Imam Bukhari went on record on Sunday in Allahabad stating that Vande Mataram was against Islamic Beliefs and asking Muslims to sing it would be tantamount to suppression of Muslims. According to Bukhari when it comes to worship only Allah is given the honor of worship hence singing Vande Mataram would be contrary to the tenets of Islam as it worships the Nation. Bukhari goes on to rant on other unrrelated issues given his political interests in the upcoming elections in the state of Uttar Pradesh where his United Democratic Front, UDF hopes to make a showing. While there seems to be a vocal section of the Muslim community which is endorsing the Imam's views it is unclear if this section amounts to a majority or minority of the Muslim Community. However it is clear that the late Ustad Bismillah Khan clearly did not belong to this section. Ustad Bismillah Khan's legacy, life and times are a clear repudiation of the narrow interpretation of Islam that the Imam Bukhari has made out for our benefit. A very interesting and elightening perspective on how the late Bismillah Khan would have reacted to this issue can be obtained in an interview the late Ustad gave to Shekhar Gupta of the Indian Express in his weekly television interview program Walk The Talk which aired on NDTV earlier this year. The late Ustad was a man of refreshing simplicity in thought and in conduct. Shekhar Gupta interviewed him in his rather humble abode where the late Ustad lived away in less than modest conditions. The simplicity and moral clarity of his mind comes through when Shekhar Gupta asks him about the current state affairs in the world and terrorism. The late Ustad replies that Everyone has a mind, right? Everyone thinks differently. Each one of them can’t be good, there will have to be some who will do bad. Shekhar goes on to further quiz the Ustad specifically on what he thought about the phrase "Islamic Terrorism" and if that phraseology offended him. The Ustad replied No, it’s not like that. Didn’t I just tell you, there’s only God. I can sing to Allah in Raag Bhairav In this reply Ustad Bismillah Khan not just answered how he felt about the phraseology of Islamic Terrorism but he also repudiated all those who believed that Allah could not be worshipped through alternative means. The late Ustad in his worship of Raaf Bhairav was worshipping Allah in his own way. Something for the Imam and those who subscribe to his narrow interpretation of Islam to ponder over when they forbid fellow Muslims from reciting Vande Mataram and view it as against the tenets of Islam. They would be repudiating all that Ustad Bismillah Khan that finest of Muslims that India produced and every Indian has been proud of. The BJP's Mukthar Abbas Naqvi in characteristic BJP style knee jerk reaction demanded that all those who refuse to sing Vande Mataram should be asked to leave the country. In further demonstration of its lopsided political correctness the Congress Party through its spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi and the Union HRD Minister Arjun Singh steered clear of potential controversy in Uttar Pradesh by taking a middle of the road stance. While Arjun Singh went on record to say that the order by his Ministry was not mandatory, which makes one wonder why it even bothered to issue the order in the first place, Abhishek Singhvi refused to take a position on the refusal by a section of the Muslim of the community. This brings into question the sanctity of Vande Mataram as the National Song. Why designate a song as the National Song if the government of the day shies away from acknowledging it is truly National in nature and refuses to take a position on the reluctance by one section of the society in recognizing the song as being National. So what good is this designation and what good are these September 7th Centenary celebrations of Vande Mataram. A reading of the constituent assembly debates is enlightening. Every session of the Constitutent Assembly started with the recitation of Vande Mataram. The founding fathers debated the issue of National Anthem versus National Song in much the same manner and decided to accord National Status and respect to both songs. Offstumped Bottomline: Ustad Bismillah Khan showed us the wisdom of worshipping god through music irrespective of its lyrics or origins. A.R. Rahman showed us the popular appeal of Vande Mataram with his inspiring composition. Imam Bukhari has challenged the National designation of Vande Mataram. The Government of the day cannot take cover under political correctness and must make clear if it believes if Bukhari is right and if not it must go on the record to clarify what the National Song status to Vande Mataram really means. Does it mean anything at all or is it one of the last remaining vestiges of a time long gone by like the Gandhi Cap and Khadi which remain symbols in name only, long having lost their meaning Blogger News Network is advertiser-supported, and your visits to our advertisers help BNN to meet its expenses. Help keep us afloat! posted by Yossarin at 5:05 PM |
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