Singing Vande Mataram made compulsory in all UP educational institutions as CM Yogi Adityanath announces new rule

To mark 150 years of India's national song, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced on Monday that singing Vande Mataram will be made compulsory in all state educational institutions.

Addressing an ‘Ekta Yatra’ (Unity March) event in Gorakhpur, he said this step would inspire feelings of reverence and pride among citizens towards Bharat Mata and the motherland.

“There should be a sense of respect for the national song Vande Mataram. We will make its singing compulsory in every school and educational institution of Uttar Pradesh,” he said.

The commemorative events mark the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram, believed to have been written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay on Akshaya Navami in 1875.

First published in the literary journal Bangadarshan as part of his novel Anandamath, the song went on to become a symbol of India's awakening and resistance during colonial times.

‘Conspiracy to create new Jinnahs’

At the event, the UP CM also invoked All-India Muslim League leaders Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Mohammad Ali Jauhar, and said that those who oppose Vande Mataram are insulting India's unity and integrity.

“Even today, we would expect that everyone living in India would be loyal to the nation and work for its unity,” Adityanath said. He continued, “It is now our duty to identify and oppose all elements that divide society, whether in the name of caste, region, or language. These divisions are part of a conspiracy to create new Jinnahs.”

Adityanath urged people to ensure that no new Jinnah ever arises in India again, and if anyone dares to challenge the nation’s integrity, “we must bury such divisive intent before it can take root”.

“Every citizen of India must stand united for this cause,” he said.

Vande Mataram row

The Congress has claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has “insulted” the Congress Working Committee of 1937, which issued a statement on the song, as well as Rabindranath Tagore.

Stepping up its attack over the Vande Mataram row, the opposition party demanded an apology from PM Modi over the issue and asserted that he should fight his political battles on current issues of daily concern.

The Congress' attack came after the prime minister said on Friday that important stanzas of "Vande Mataram" were dropped in 1937, which sowed the seeds of partition, and asserted that such a "divisive mindset" is still a challenge for the country.

PM Modi had made the comments after inaugurating the year-long commemoration of "Vande Mataram" to mark 150 years of the national song.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the prime minister insulting the Congress Working Committee and Tagore is shocking but not surprising "since the RSS had played no role in our freedom movement led by Mahatma Gandhi".

In a post on X, he said, "The Congress Working Committee met in Kolkata, October 26-November 1, 1937. Those present included Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Rajendra Prasad, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Sarojini Naidu, J B Kripalani, Bhulabhai Desai, Jamnalal Bajaj, Narendra Deva, and others."

The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi Volume 66, page 46, reveals that on 28 October 1937, the CWC issued a statement on Vande Mataram, and this statement had been profoundly influenced by Rabindranath Tagore and his advice, Ramesh said.

He shared screenshots of the statement of the CWC, and said, “Gradually, the use of the first two stanzas of the (Vande Mataram) song spread to other provinces, and a certain national significance began to attach to them.”

“The rest of the song was very seldom used and is even now known by few people. These two stanzas described in tender language the beauty of the motherland and the abundance of her gifts,” the CWC statement of 1937 said.

There was absolutely nothing in them to which objection could be taken from the religious or any other point of view, it said.

"'There is nothing in these stanzas to which anyone can take exception. The other stanzas of the song are little known and hardly ever sung. They contain certain allusions and a religious ideology which may not be in keeping with the ideology of other religious groups in India," the statement had said.

“Taking all things into consideration, therefore the Committee recommend that wherever the Bande Mataram is sung at national gatherings only the first two stanzas should be sung, with perfect freedom to the organisers to sing any other song of an unobjectionable character, in addition to, or in the place of, the Bande Mataram song,” the statement had said.