Kohima: Thousands of students and citizens under the banner of the Naga Students' Federation (NSF) on Monday staged a rally here opposing the Centre's directive to the state government mandating the singing of Vande Mataram during official functions and in educational institutions.
Carrying placards reading "MHA's January 28 directive is an assault to secularism", "Naga rights are non-negotiable", "Stop forced policies", and "The directive is a direct attack on our faith," the rallyists marched from Kohima Town to Lok Bhavan.
The protesters submitted a memorandum addressed to President Droupadi Murmu through the Governor of Nagaland.
In the memorandum, the NSF expressed its strongest opposition to the directive mandating the playing or singing of Vande Mataram during official functions and directing its compulsory observance in educational institutions.
The NSF stated that while the Naga people respect the national symbols and cultural expressions of all communities, the imposition of any symbolic expression with religious connotations raises serious concerns regarding freedom of conscience.
The memorandum stated that the revised version of Vande Mataram contains devotional imagery associated with the worship of a particular deity, which the federation said conflicts with the religious and cultural sensitivities of the Naga people.
It maintained that educational institutions should remain spaces for intellectual freedom and democratic values rather than platforms for "enforcing symbolic compliance or ideological uniformity." Citing international legal frameworks such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the federation asserted that freedom of thought, conscience and religion must be upheld.
It also referred to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, stating that indigenous communities have the right to maintain their cultural institutions and traditions without external imposition.
Addressing the gathering, NSF president Mteisuding Heraang said the rally was a collective assertion that the identity and beliefs of the Naga people cannot be dictated by administrative directives.
He maintained that the protest was not directed against any nation or community but against the principle of imposing symbolic practices that conflict with the conscience of the people.
Heraang further stated that respect for diversity and coexistence has always been a hallmark of the Naga society, where different faiths and communities have lived side by side peacefully.
However, he said the compulsory observance of Vande Mataram raises fundamental concerns related to secularism and freedom of belief.
Speakers from the Naga Peoples' Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR), Nagaland Joint Christian Forum (NJCF), Nagaland Christian Revival Churches and the Catholic Association of Nagaland also addressed the gathering, expressing support for the protest and stressing the need to safeguard the cultural and religious sensitivities of the Naga people.
The NSF urged the President to withdraw the directive mandating the singing or playing of Vande Mataram during official functions and within educational institutions in the Naga homeland, and called for dialogue and consultation with representatives of the Naga people before implementing policies that may affect the cultural and social fabric of the region.
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