Singing ‘Vande Mataram’ mandatory in madrasas

After general education institutions in the Indian state of West Bengal, now all madrasas in the state have made singing ‘Vande Mataram’ mandatory. The new BJP government led by Chief Minister Subhendu Adhikari has said in an administrative order that the song will be sung in all recognised madrasas in the state every day before classes begin. Earlier, a similar directive was issued last week, making it mandatory in all primary and secondary schools in the state. NDTV News.
The latest order issued by the Directorate of Madrasas under the state government’s Minority Affairs and Madrasa Education Department said that the new rule will come into effect immediately in all recognised, government-aided and private madrasas in West Bengal. Students will have to sing the song every morning in the assembly before classes start or during daily prayers. Just a week ago, Chief Minister Subhendu Adhikari had issued the same rule for all schools under the School Education Department.
In an online post, Chief Minister Subhendu Adhikari announced the cancellation of all previous state orders and said that the West Bengal government has made it mandatory to sing ‘Vande Mataram’ in the morning assembly before classes begin in all educational institutions under the School and Madrasa Education Department with immediate effect. NDTV reported that ‘Vande Mataram’, one of the main slogans and inspirations of freedom fighters in India’s historic freedom movement against British colonial rule, has once again come to the centre of intense political debate ahead of this year’s state assembly elections. In February this year, the Indian government gave ‘Vande Mataram’ equal status as the country’s main national anthem ‘Jana Gana Mana’. Following the central government’s decision, the state government has also started the process of making the full six stanzas of ‘Vande Mataram’ mandatory along with the national anthem in various government functions and daily activities of educational institutions. Recently, there has been a lot of political debate and criticism surrounding the song ‘Vande Mataram’ surrounding various government swearing-in ceremonies in other Indian states like Tamil Nadu and Kerala. DMK Chief Minister Joseph Vijay faced severe criticism for his decision to play the full ‘Vande Mataram’ before the main national anthem at a government function in Chennai.