State minorities panel wants ban on entry of Rushdie, Taslima
Express News Service, The Indian Express
January 19, 2008

The Maharashtra State Minorities Commission has demanded a ban on the entry of controversial writers Salman Rushdie and Taslima Nasreen into the country on the ground that they are hurting the religious sentiments of Muslims.

"Anti-social and blasphemous people like Salman Rushdie and Taslima Nasreen are disturbing peace and hurting the religious sentiments of Muslims, thereby creating law and order problems. We condemn them and demand that the central government should not issue visas to such persons," chairperson of the commission Mohammed Naseem Siddiqui said on Friday.

He said that the duo was creating instability in the country. "It is true that in our country, we have freedom of expression. But it does not mean that a person can misuse it to hurt the religious sentiments of a community," he said.

Commenting on the state government's plan to make singing of Vande Mataram compulsory in schools, he said, "As an individual I oppose it. It should be voluntary. Those who want to sing can do so. Quran prohibits Muslims from worshipping any one else except Allah, so there should be no compulsion on singing this song. It is neither the national anthem nor a national song."

He pointed out that there were so many other things which could be done to show one's patriotism and not singing the Vande Mataram could not be the yardstick for measuring one's loyalty to his motherland.

He suggested that instead of Vande Mataram, some other songs like "Sare Jahan Se Achha," or ''Ai Mere Vatan Ke Logo" be selected for singing in schools.