Lucknow: Already in Guinness Books of World Records for lighting over 5.50 lakh lamps during Deepotsav Program in Ayodhya last year, the Yogi Adityanath government is all set to add another world record in its name when 50,000 videos of artists singing India’s national song ‘Vande Matram’ in all 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh will be uploaded in the website of Guinness Books of World Records to mark centenary celebrations of Chauri Chaura incident on February 4.
The centenary celebrations will be inaugurated virtually by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 4. The PM will also release a postal stamp on the occasion through video conferencing.
To make the year-long centenary celebrations memorable, the state government has made special arrangements for singing of Vande Matram in all 75 districts. The event is being organized by the state’s cultural department and a rehearsal of the event was done on Tuesday.
The Principal Secretary Culture and Tourism Mukesh Meshram claimed that selected singers will recite Vande Matram in schools and other suitable places, well connected with the Internet, in a saluting position to set a unique world record.
After the rehearsal on Tuesday, singers will sing the first few lines of Vande Mataram in Saluting position which will be video-recorded for uploading. The Guinness Books of World Record will provide a link on its website to upload 30-second videos from different locations across the state.
Over 50,000 videos by different artists singing Vande Matram in Saluting position will be uploaded into the website to register the record in the state's name. Earlier, China held the record when 10,369 videos of people in saluting positions were uploaded in December 2019 in Beijing.
To ensure that the videos are recorded and uploaded as per the plan and requirement of the Guinness Books of World Records, the state government has appointed a nodal officer in each 75 districts to supervise the event.
The uploading of videos on the website of Guinness Books of World Records will begin from 10 am Wednesday and will continue till 12 noon on February 4 when centenary celebrations are inaugurated by the Prime Minister. The first video will be uploaded from Chauri Chaura Memorial in Gorakhpur and other districts will follow by their turn.
The Guinness technical team will examine uploaded videos on February 5 and declare the result the next day.
Besides record-achieving singing of Vande Matram, a deepotsav program will be organized in all 75 districts to pay tributes to freedom fighters. The Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has already issued directives to organize year-long programs, including essay writing, debates, painting competitions, exhibitions etc to make people aware of sacrifices made by freedom fighters during the struggle for independence.
On February 4 1922, policemen had opened fire on peasants holding demonstrations in Chauri Chaura in Gorakhpur in support of a non-cooperation movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi. In retaliation, peasants set Chauri Chaura Police Station on fire. About 23 policemen were burnt alive in the fire forcing Mahatma Gandhi to call off the movement.
