‘VandeMataram,’ the national song played before the national anthem, ‘Jana, Gana, Mana,’ at all government events and in schools, according to new rules from the Union Home Ministry issued on Wednesday morning. These rules also require everyone to stand when ‘Vande Mataram’ played.
Union Home Ministry new ‘Vande Mataram’ Guidelines
The national song now also played at civilian award ceremonies, such as the Padma awards, and at all other events attended by the President during their arrival and departure. It also played in public places like cinema halls, though standing is not required in this case. All six stanzas, including the four that the Congress removed in 1937 played.
Last month, the government planned to extend the rules covering the national anthem under the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act to ‘VandeMataram.’ Under the law, anyone who stops or disrupts others from respecting the national anthem—and now the national song can face up to three years in jail.
The ‘Vande Mataram’ controversy
This directive and the inclusion by Union Home Ministry spark a debate, especially since there was a major conflict between the ruling BJP and the Congress on this issue last year. PM Modi accused his predecessor, Jawaharlal Nehru, of siding with Muhammad Ali Jinnah in opposing the song because it might “irritate Muslims.”
The BJP then shared letters from Nehru to support its claim, and the exchange escalated after a parliamentary discussion on the 150th anniversary of the song’s composition.
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