Nation celebrates Vande Mataram's centenary

 

NEW DELHI: In the midst of a controversy, the national song Vande Mataram was on Thursday sung across the country to celebrate its centenary. But many minority educational institutions, even in the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Rajasthan, abstained.

 

Reports from BJP-ruled states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and Rajasthan, said the song by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee was sung in educational institutions and specially organised programmes at 11 am, as per an order of the Union Human Resources Development Ministry.
    
The order, which made it clear that singing of the Vande Mataram in schools and colleges would not be mandatory, had sparked a controversy, with some Muslim leaders saying the song went against Islamic teachings about not worshipping any person or object.

 

At a function in Delhi, HRD Minister Arjun Singh joined students in singing the song.

 

Students of madrassas in Muslim-dominated areas of Rajasthan defied the BJP government's order to observe Vande Mataram Day by not singing the song, but in other schools celebrations were held.

 

In Dehradun, where the BJP National Executive is being held, party president Rajnath Singh and senior leader LK Advani led party functionaries in the celebrations.

 

In National Democratic Alliance-ruled Jharkhand, Chief Minister Arjun Munda led BJP leaders and party workers, to sing the song shortly after 9 am.

 

In Bhopal, the Vande Mataram was recited at government offices and educational institutions, including madrassas, across BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh on Thursday on its centenary amid protests by some Muslim bodies.

 

The song was also recited at the offices of political parties, including the ruling BJP and main opposition Congress. The BJP's youth wing, the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, has planned rallies.

 

In Chennai, collective singing of the song was organised in almost all educational institutions. The song was recited in Central and state government-run schools in the city.

 

In minority-run institutions, there had been reservations on singing the song and the Indian National League and Tamil Nadu Thowheed Jamaath had opposed an initial government circular, that had made it compulsory for students to sing the song.

 

Following this, the state government had instructed school and college authorities that only willing students need to participate.

 

Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra also witnessed programmes to mark the centenary.

 

Although the state government declared that singing the Vande Mataram would be optional, the opposition BJP and Shiv Sena organized functions to celebrate the centenary.

 

At Tilak Bhavan, headquarters of the state Congress, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh joined Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee chief Prabha Rau and senior party leaders in singing the song. Congress Seva Dal workers were also present.

 

Shiv Sena and its affiliate organizations, including its labour wing the Bharatiya Kamgar Sena, organized programmes to mark the occasion.

 

In Gujarat, collective singing of the song was organised at the State Secretariat in the capital Gandhinagar and other places to mark its centenary even as heavy rain prompted the authorities to shut several schools.

 

The downpour since Wednesday evening did not deter the official machinery from organising the collective singing of the song that went on as scheduled in the Secretariat, in which Chief Minister Narendra Modi and cabinet ministers participated.

 

Several schools that were also told to celebrate the singing of song, however, remained closed due to rain in many districts.

 

Reports from Amritsar said the song was sung in Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee-run institutions. The Punjab Government had on Wednesday said it would not make it mandatory for students to sing the song.

 

The song was also sung across West Bengal.

 

Students in many schools in Kolkata sang the song during the morning assembly. The state government had made the singing optional.

 

The state Congress celebrated the centenary of the song by paying tribute to Bankim Chandra Chatterjee.

 

The BJP celebrated the occasion with members of its women's wing singing the Vande Mataram near Calcutta University.

 

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Jana Singh have also lined up programmes to mark the centenary of the song.

 

Students in several educational institutions across Meghalaya sang the song.

 

Chief Secretary SK Tiwari was present in one institute in the capital town where he translated the meaning and explained the significance of Vande Mataram to the students.

 

Defying the BJP government's order on compulsory singing of the Vande Mataram, students in Rajasthan's Islamic schools did not recite the song, while many of these institutions declared a holiday.

 

Thousands of students sung the Vande Mataram in schools across Goa, where singing of the song was optional.

 

In Nagpur RSS chief KS Sudarshan and Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Ashok Singhal were joined by children and other swayayamsewaks in reciting the Vande Matram at Badkas Square, near the RSS headquarters.

 

Students in schools across Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh also sang the Vande Mataram.

 

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's absence at an event marking the Vande Mataram centenary supplied new ammunition to the BJP to as it announced plans to step up its campaign on the national song ahead of assembly polls in several states.