Row after RSS affiliate asks madrasas to hoist Tricolour on R-Day

An RSS affiliate's advice to madrasas to hoist the national flag on campuses on Republic Day has drawn criticism from prominent Islamic seminary Darul-uloom-Deoband, prompting the Muslim Rashtriya Manch to clarify it never doubted the patriotism of these institutions. The Islamic seminary has objected to the MRM's call and asked the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) whether it "believed" in the Constitution of India and the national flag. Ashraf Usmani, press secretary of the seminary said though the decision to unfurl the national flag was the individual choice of madrasas, almost all of them hoist it and celebrate Independence and Republic days. Hitting out at RSS, Usmani wanted to know the Sangh's contribution to the national freedom struggle in which he said madrasas had played an important role. "It (RSS) only worships the saffron flag. First it should hoist tricolour at its headquarters and other offices and only the it should talk about madrasas," he said. Meanwhile, the Muslim Rashtriya Manch has clarified its intention behind the campaign was not to test or doubt the patriotism of the religious educational institutions. "We have been appealing the madrassas to hoist national flag on January 26 and August 15 for the last five years," national convenor of MRM Mohammad Afzal told PTI. "Since this time our government is at the Centre, we are planning to organise the event on a large scale, but this doesn't mean that the Manch has any doubt about the patriotism of madarasas or wants to target them through this campaign," he said. Afzal said all citizens should hoist the tricolour on important national events. "MRM workers will hoist flag at madrasas in their areas on January 26. Being a Muslim we will talk about madrasas. Muslims love their motherland and salute the tricolour," he said.