Muslim teacher suspended for resisting Hindu nationalist chant
The case highlights growing pressure on Muslims in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh in India as the state pushes compulsory recitation of Hindu nationalist hymn Vande Mataram
NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — Authorities in northern India have suspended and filed criminal charges against a Muslim government school teacher after he objected to chanting “Vande Mataram,” a Hindu nationalist hymn that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is pushing to enforce across classrooms in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
The assistant teacher, Shamshul Hasan, was suspended after colleagues alleged he refused to participate in the chant during morning assembly and argued with staff who insisted it must be recited.
The dispute unfolded as the state prepares to mark 150 years of the hymn’s composition.
The incident comes days after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath — a hardline Hindutva monk and senior BJP leader — announced that reciting Vande Mataram would be made compulsory in government schools.
Rights groups say the order targets minority students and teachers, particularly Muslims, who object to the hymn’s religious content.
Written in the late 19th century by Hindu revivalist Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Vande Mataram venerates India as the goddess Durga. For Muslims who follow strict monotheism, worshipping a deity in human or divine form is prohibited, creating longstanding theological objections.
India’s founders recognized this sensitivity: Vande Mataram was designated the “national song,” not the national anthem, and Indian law does not require citizens to sing it.
Despite this history, the Uttar Pradesh administration has intensified ideological policing in schools. Officials said an inquiry against Hasan was launched based on testimonies from five teachers who accused him of objecting not only to Vande Mataram but also to slogans such as “Bharat Mata ki Jai,” another chant rooted in Hindu nationalist imagery that depicts India as a goddess.
Police registered a criminal case against Hasan under multiple sections of India’s new penal code, including charges related to “insult,” “public nuisance,” and “criminal intimidation.” Officers claim he attempted to prevent other teachers from chanting the slogan — an allegation Hasan denies.
During questioning, Hasan told officials he raised a “polite objection” because Muslim students were present and the chant conflicted with their faith. He claimed tensions escalated only after a colleague hurled abusive language at him.
The episode highlights growing anxieties over forced cultural conformity in India’s schools, particularly in BJP-ruled states where Hindu nationalist symbols and slogans are increasingly being embedded into public institutions.
For many educators and minority families, the widening expectation to publicly perform religious-nationalist identity is becoming a stark marker of the shrinking space for dissent — and for secularism — in India’s democracy.
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