PC must apologise on Vande Mataram issue: VHP

The VHP on Wednesday lashed out at Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind for adopting a resolution asking Muslims not to recite Vande Mataram, and demanded a public apology from Home Minister P Chidambaram for "keeping silent despite the anti-national pronouncement being made in his presence".

The saffron outfit termed "anti-national" the resolution adopted during an Islamic seminary at Deoband in Uttar Pradesh yesterday.

"This (the resolution) has once again exposed the anti-national character of the Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind," VHP general secretary Praveen Togadia said.

The firebrand leader said Chidambaram must apologise to people for his presence in the function where the resolution was passed.

"Chidambaram must tender a public apology for having let down the nation and particularly the Hindus," Togadia said.

He alleged, "Instead of intervening and objecting, the home minister sat there and kept exchanging pleasantries,"

The VHP also demand that all the people associated with the outfit be stripped of their Indian citizenship, he said.

Togadia said if Centre fails to take action against the Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind, it would undertake demonstrations in villages across the country "and ensure that no cleric of that organisation gets entry into a single hamlet".