Pinarayi Vijayan asks Kerala to drop full Vande Mataram order for August 15
Kerala Opposition leader Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday demanded that the state government withdraw an order directing that the full version of Vande Mataram be sung
Kerala Opposition leader Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday demanded that the state government withdraw an order directing that the full version of Vande Mataram be sung during Independence Day celebrations. He alleged that the move reflected a surrender to the RSS agenda. Speaking to reporters, Vijayan said only the opening stanzas of Vande Mataram should be sung, saying the full version was not in line with the country’s secular principles. He said reports that it would be rendered in full on August 15, along with the national anthem, made the issue serious and called for urgent correction. Read Full Story "Regarding Vande Mataram, there is something that our country has generally accepted. That is, the song Vande Mataram in its entirety does not align with secularism", he said. "When we decided to be a secular nation, the Constituent Assembly itself decided that a song that does not align with secularism should not be recited in that manner". Vijayan said there was no issue with singing the initial stanzas. "The Constituent Assembly decided that only the first few lines need to be sung.
This was the policy of leaders, including Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. That policy was also the policy of the Congress," he said. He said the position changed after the present UDF government came to power and pointed to the full rendition of Vande Mataram at the Cabinet swearing-in ceremony. "The shift occurred when this (UDF) government came to power. On the very first day, during the Cabinet swearing-in ceremony, Vande Mataram was sung in full," he said. "Singing Vande Mataram in its entirety is the RSS policy. It is an RSS agenda. The government here showed a stance of completely surrendering to it. Widespread criticism was raised against this," Vijayan said. Referring to the Independence Day celebrations, he said, "If that is the case, it is a serious matter. That is the RSS policy; it is not what our country accepted. When it comes to singing Vande Mataram, only the initial stanzas need to be sung." He added, "So, from the swearing-in ceremony to the current events, what we can see is how much they are surrendering to the RSS agenda.
What needs to be done now is to urgently rectify this matter". On August 6, Kerala Chief Secretary Bishwanath Sinha issued a letter following a communication from the Union Ministry of Culture on the Har Ghar Tiranga campaign, to be observed from August 9 to 17 this year. The letter said the 2026 edition of the campaign, launched in 2022 under Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, had been integrated with the third phase of the nationwide commemoration of 150 years of the Song Vande Mataram, as approved by the Implementation Committee chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. It said all physical celebrations during the period would combine collective singing of Vande Mataram with the hoisting or display of the Flag, while digital participation would be through the Har Ghar Tiranga portal, where citizens could upload their 'Selfie with Tiranga'. The letter also said the Government of India’s instructions on the recitation of Vande Mataram would be followed in full. CPI(M) leader P Rajeev also criticised the UDF government over the chief secretary’s order. In a Facebook post, he alleged that the state government had waited for a communication from the Union Culture Ministry before taking the decision.
The BriefWire