- Vande Mataram recital made mandatory in all West Bengal madrasahs during morning assembly
- Order applies to all recognised, aided, and unaided madrasahs under the state Minority Affairs Department
- New West Bengal government requires all schools to sing six stanzas of Vande Mataram before classes
A week after making Vande Mataram recital mandatory in all schools, the Suvendu Adhikari government in West Bengal has made the singing of the national song must in all madrasahs in the state.
An order passed by the Directorate of Madrasah of the state govt stated that the recital of Vande Mataram will be mandatory in all madrasahs across the state during the morning assembly. The order will be applicable to all recognised, aided and unaided madrasahs that come under the Minority Affairs and Madrasah Education Department of the West Bengal government.
Mataram Mandate For Schools
Last week, in one of the first decisions, the new Suvendu Adhikari government had made singing of all six stanzas of Vande Mataram mandatory in all schools across the state. The students must sing the national song before starting their classes during the morning assembly, the order stated.
"Overriding the previous directive, the West Bengal government has made it mandatory with immediate effect for all schools under the Department of School Education to sing the Indian national song Vande Mataram during the school assembly or morning prayer before the commencement of classes," CM Suvendu Adhikari said in an online post.
Vande Mataram, a rallying cry for freedom fighters in the battle to liberate India from colonial rule, had returned to political discourse ahead of this year's state election.
Singing all six stanzas mandatory
In February, the central government accorded it a status equal to the country's national anthem, Jana Gana Mana, making it compulsory that all six stanzas are sung at all government and school events alongside the national anthem.
Recent Rows Over Vande Mataram
Recently, controversies over the national song played out during the oath ceremonies in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The DMK took sharp jibes at Chief Minister Joseph Vijay over the national song being played in full before the national anthem at the Chennai event. The Left went after the VD Satheesan government after full Vande Mataram was sung during his oath ceremony. While the UDF government distanced itself from the controversy saying that it was Raj Bhavan that decided the event flow, the BJP attacked the Communists for "hating" the Indian culture.
