``Vande Mataram is not anti-Muslim and there is an attempt to give it a political colour, mislead Muslims and exploit their sentiments to gain political mileage,'' said Naqvi, who is on an election tour of Rajasthan.

Naqvi said, ``Raising such frivolous issues to foment communal passions was against the basic principles of Islam, which taught Ibul Vatniya (Love for the motherland).

He said Vande Mataram was sung by Muslim leaders, including Mohammed Ali Jinnah, during the freedom struggle, ``To term it anti-Muslim is nothing but an attempt to create a vicious atmosphere in the country by exploiting sentiments'', he added.

He called upon Muslim fundamentalists to discard their ``rigid attitude'' and preach the concept of brotherhoodand unity among Muslims to preserve social harmony. Naqvi said, ``Parties are raising such non-issues at the time of elections to gain political mileage by pushing the main issues concerning the country to the background.'' He said what the Muslims needed was education for their development.

``Muslims will soon realise who their true friend is and the Bharatiya Janata Party will ensure that they were accorded equal status, given facilities for better education and employment,'' he added.

Muslim body seeks NIC intervention

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee should call a meeting of the National Integration Council (NIC) to discuss the controversy over making rendition of saraswati vandana and vande mataram mandatory in government schools in Uttar Pradesh, the Qaumi Mushawarat Committee (QMC) demanded today.

Terming compulsory singing of saraswati vandana and vande mataram as a move against Muslim religious practice and violative of fundamental rightsgranted under the Constitution, QMC convenor Jawed Habeeb also demanded a national debate on the issue.

He told reporters that he supported the stand taken by all India Muslim personal law board chairman Ali Mian against the compulsory singing of these songs in Uttar Pradesh schools.The committee also threatened to move the Supreme Court unless the government took steps to rectify the UP Government order stipulating the rendition of these songs.He also accused the BJP of creating `fascist democracy' in the country saying that it was trying to abolish the religious and cultural identity of Muslims.

The committee appealed to all the Muslims to extend their support to the Congress candidates in next week's election in all the four states.