The Mumtaz Degree College, a minority educational institution in Lucknow, managed by eminent lawyer Zafaryab Jilani, has run into controversy after some students complained that they were not allowed to chant Bharat Mata ki jai during the Independence Day celebrations. Jilani is the secretary of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board and has been convenor of the Babri Masjid Action Committee.
Shiv Singh, the elder brother of one of the students who alleged this, said, “The staff of the college does not stand up during the national anthem nor do they sing it. Even before the national anthem, the children were told that they would not be allowed to raise a cry of Bharat Mata ki jai. This has always been happening in the college. As the number of NCC trainees this year was substantial, they could argue with the staff members present.”
Singh’s brother was part of the fifty-odd cadets who do not attend the Mumtaz Degree College for studies but get their NCC training on its grounds. He has videos of the incident, which he says he shall use to file a case against the college for “promoting anti-national sentiments”. One of these videos examined by THE WEEK shows some cadets arguing with people who appear to be three senior male members of the staff.
The institution offers both graduate and postgraduate courses and is run by the Anjuman Islahul Muslimeen Society.
While the members of the management committee refused to comment on the issue, Shazia Khan, a teacher at the college, told THE WEEK, “I was present during the singing of the national anthem and after that. Nothing of the kind happened.”
Mohammed Shoaib, a member of the management committee who was not present during the event, said that he had heard of some problem too, though the flag hoisting and the singing of the national anthem went smoothly. "It is possible that the students were not allowed to say Bharat Mata ki jai," he said.
“Conquering armies of old used such cries when attempting to expand the boundaries of the land under their control. In a sovereign country, such slogans have no place and not much should be made out of it,” Shoaib, an advocate, told THE WEEK.
Singh, meanwhile, has said that the matter is serious and that that he shall pursue it. “After the students created a ruckus, they were assured that they will be allowed to raise the slogan next time. Those who do not have faith in the country and its symbols should be questioned,” he told THE WEEK.
