Owaisi welcomes SC observation on Vande Mataram, hits out at SG

Hyderabad: All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen president Asaduddin Owaisi on Tuesday, September 22, welcomed the Supreme Court’s observation that individuals cannot face criminal prosecution simply for refusing to recite Vande Mataram if it violates their conscience.

In a post on X, the Hyderabad MP took a dig at Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and said, “The freedom to disagree is an essential part of the liberty of thought, speech and expression. And yet, the Solicitor General of India – the country’s second-highest law officer – chose to call people ‘Naxalites’ for merely exercising their right to approach the courts and challenge the validity of a law.”

Earlier on Tuesday, the Supreme Court told the Centre to keep in mind its 1986 judgment, which protected children from penal actions for not singing the national anthem, as it sought a response to a plea by Carnatic musician TM Krishna challenging the penal protection to Vande Mataram.

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana was hearing a petition by Krishna challenging the law mandating singing of all six stanzas of Vande Mataram, arguing that the last four stanzas violate the secular character of the nation.

The bench said determining the national song was a matter for the democratic state and the court would not second-guess the national sentiment or aspiration associated with Vande Mataram.