Now Reading: Vijayan asks Kerala govt to drop full Vande Mataram order
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Vijayan asks Kerala govt to drop full Vande Mataram order
Kerala Opposition leader Pinarayi Vijayan has demanded that the state government withdraw its order directing the full version of Vande Mataram to be sung at Independence Day celebrations on August 15. Speaking…
The Story in Brief
Kerala Opposition leader Pinarayi Vijayan has demanded that the state government withdraw its order directing the full version of Vande Mataram to be sung at Independence Day celebrations on August 15. Speaking on Saturday, Vijayan said only the opening stanzas should be rendered, as the full version does not align with India’s secular principles. He accused the UDF government of surrendering to the RSS agenda, a charge echoed by CPI(M) leader P Rajeev.
The order, issued by Chief Secretary Bishwanath Sinha on August 6, follows a Union Ministry of Culture communication that integrated the Har Ghar Tiranga campaign with the 150th anniversary of the national song. The government has said it will follow the Centre’s instructions on recitation. Vijayan and Rajeev argue that the Constituent Assembly had decided only the first two stanzas should be sung in official functions, a position earlier upheld by the Congress.
The Indian Opinion
The row over Vande Mataram’s full version is a familiar political ritual. Each side paints the other as anti-national or anti-secular, but the facts are simpler. The Constituent Assembly indeed chose to adopt only the first two stanzas for official occasions, a practice successive governments followed. The Centre’s 2026 directive to sing the full song during the Har Ghar Tiranga campaign is not a law but a suggestion. The real test is whether the Kerala government will stick to its order or bow to Vijayan’s charge of an RSS agenda. Does the UDF have a policy of its own, or is it simply following the Union’s lead?
Source: indiatoday.in
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
