New Delhi: The Union Home Ministry on Wednesday issued new rules mandating that the national song, Vande Mataram, be played before the national anthem, Jana Gana Mana, at all government functions and in schools across the country. The directive also makes it compulsory for all present to stand while Vande Mataram is being played.
According to the new guidelines, the national song will now be played at civilian award ceremonies, including the Padma awards and at all official events attended by the President, during both arrival and departure. It will also be played in public places such as cinema halls, though standing up in these venues will not be mandatory.
Notably, according to an NDTV report, the government has directed that all six stanzas of Vande Mataram be played, including the four stanzas that were excluded by the Congress in 1937. Last month, sources had indicated that the Centre was considering extending the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act to cover Vande Mataram. Under the Act, disrupting or preventing others from showing respect to the national anthem and now the national song, can attract a jail term of up to three years.
Political Row Over Vande Mataram
The move is expected to reignite a political controversy, particularly between the BJP and the Congress. The issue had flared up last year after Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused Jawaharlal Nehru of opposing the song on the grounds that it could offend Muslims. The BJP later shared letters purportedly written by Nehru to support its claim, triggering sharp exchanges during a parliamentary debate marking the 150th anniversary of the song.
The four stanzas dropped in 1937 contain references to Hindu goddesses Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati, which the Congress at the time argued could be viewed as exclusionary by sections of the Muslim community. The BJP has since maintained that the decision reflected the Congress’ divisive approach, with the Prime Minister stating that removing the stanzas sowed the seeds of division that ultimately led to Partition.
Congress Calls It Poll Tactic
The Congress, however, has hit back, accusing the BJP and its ideological parent, the RSS, of hypocrisy. Party president Mallikarjun Kharge described it as deeply ironic that those claiming to uphold nationalism had historically avoided singing Vande Mataram. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also accused the BJP of selectively quoting Nehru and attempting to politicise the issue ahead of the upcoming West Bengal Assembly elections.
Written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in 1875 and later published in his novel Anandmath, Vande Mataram became a powerful rallying cry during India’s freedom struggle. While the opening stanzas portray India as a nurturing motherland, the later verses explicitly invoke Hindu deities, a nuance that has remained at the heart of the political and cultural debate surrounding the song.
