Muslims in UP likely to defy Yogi Adityanath's I-Day order

Lucknow: Some Muslims in Uttar Pradesh are likely to defy the Yogi Adityanath government’s directive to madrasas in the state to videograph and photograph the hoisting  of the national flag and signing of the national anthem on Independence Day on Tuesday.

Maulana Asjad Miyan, a prominent cleric of the Barelvi sect, has asked Muslims to defy the Yogi government’s order to record the Independence Day celebrations. “Maulana Asjad Miyan has advised all madarsas to celebrate Independence Day by hoisting the national flag and singing Sare Jahan Se Achcha instead of Jana Gana Mana or Vande Mataram,” said Nasir Qureshi, the cleric’s spokesman.

He said the national anthem and national song contain certain phrases that are not fit to be sung by one who believes in one God.

Explaining further, the spokesman said chanting Jai ho, Jai ho, Jai ho, which comes at the end of the national anthem, was like hailing somebody other than Allah, “which is contrary to our belief”. He said Sare Jahan se Achcha was a patriotic song in Urdu written by eminent poet Muhammad Iqbal.

He claimed over 1,000 madrasas located in Bareilly, Kanpur, Jhansi and other parts of Uttar Pradesh will go with the advice of the cleric, who is a direct descendant of Ahmed Raza Khan, head of the Barelvi sect of Sunni Muslims. The dargah of Ahmed Raza is taken care of by his descendant and is one of the most revered sites for followers of the Barelvi sect. It runs around 300 madrasas in Bareilly and also in the nearby districts through its various social outfits.

Former Deoband MLA  and Samajwadi leader Maviya Ali also said in Saharanpur  that madrasas would not hoist the tricolour. “We are Muslims before we are Indians and we are not going to follow the Yogi government’s order”, he told reporters.