Vande Mataram
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INDIA 2012
A REFERENCE ANNUAL
Compiled by
RESEARCH, REFERENCE AND TRAINING DIVISION
PUBLICATIONS DIVISION
MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
NATIONAL SONG
The song Vande Mataram, composed in sanskrit by Bankimchandra Chatterji, was a source of inspiration to the people in their struggle for freedom. It has an equal status with Jana-gana-mana. The first political occasion when it was sung was the 1896 session of the Indian National Congress. The following is the text of its first stanza :
Vande Mataram!
Sujalam, suphalam, malayaja shitalam,
Shasyashyamalam, Mataram!
Shubhrajyotsna pulakitayaminim,
Phullakusumita drumadala shobhinim,
Suhasinim sumadhura bhashinim,
Sukhadam varadam, Mataram!
The English translation of the stanza rendered by Sri Aurobindo in prose1 is :
I bow to thee, Mother,
richly-watered, richly-fruited,
cool with the winds of the south,
dark with the crops of the harvests,
The Mother!
Her nights rejoicing in the glory of the moonlight,
her lands clothed beautifully with her trees in flowering bloom,
sweet of laughter, sweet of speech,
The Mother, giver of boons, giver of bliss.
The legal position
Supreme Court declines to issue judicial directives
See also National Anthem: India
The court referred to the The Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act and constitutional provisions relating to fundamental rights as it refused to take up up the plea regarding the national song
THE SUPREME Court on 17 Feb 2017 declined to entertain a plea for issuing judicial directives to play ‘Vande Mataram’, observing that laws did not recognise the concept of national song. “There is no concept of a national song,” a bench led by Justice Dipak Misra observed while hearing a PIL, which urged the court to issue guidelines on the lines of its directions on playing of the national anthem.
The court referred to the The Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act and constitutional provisions relating to fundamental rights as it refused to take up up the plea regarding the national song. “Article 51A only mentions the National Flag and the National Anthem. The Article does not refer to a national song…Therefore, we do not intend to enter into any debate as far as a national song is concerned,” the bench, also comprising Justices R Banumathi and Mohan M Shantanagoudar said.
The bench also refused to entertain for now PIL petitioner Ashwini Upadhyay’s request to make rendering of the national anthem compulsory in offices, courts, legislative houses and Parliament. However, it agreed to examine other prayers in the petition, including making the national anthem compulsory in schools. “Barring the singing of the national anthem on schools on every working day, other prayers stand rejected,” said the bench, while issuing a notice to the Centre on this aspect.
Madras HC: Vande Mataram to be sung in T.N.
R. Sivaraman, HC judge wants Vande Mataram sung in T.N., July 26, 2017: The Hindu
Schools, colleges, universities, factories to play and sing the song that ‘instilled confidence’ in people
A Madras High Court judge ordered Vande Mataram to be played and sung in all schools, colleges, universities and other educational institutions in Tamil Nadu at least once a week — preferably on Monday or Friday. Justice M.V. Muralidaran also directed that the song be played and sung in all government offices and institutions, private companies, factories and industries at least once a month.
The judge passed the order while disposing of a writ petition filed by a teacher-aspirant, K. Veeramani, who had approached the court to ascertain the language in which Vande Mataram was originally penned by poet Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay — Bengali or Sanskrit. The petitioner had said in his answer to a question in the Teacher Eligibility Test, 2013, that the song was written in Bengali, while the Teachers Recruitment Board (TRB) denied him one mark contending that it was written in Sanskrit.
While directing the TRB to award him one mark, Justice Muralidaran also ordered the playing and singing of the song. “Patriotism is an essential ingredient for every citizen.... The fact that this country is our motherland should always be remembered by every citizen... Several people have sacrificed their lives and families to the independence struggle... In these tough times, it was songs like our national song Vande Mataram which created a sense of belief and confidence in the people,” the judge said. “Perhaps in today’s modern era where we have marched ahead with technology, our lives have changed a lot. We have become [so] busy with our own lives that sometimes we forget our nation,” he said.
The Director of Public Information should upload and circulate the translated version of Vande Mataram in Tamil and English, the judge said, making it available on government websites and social media. The Chief Secretary should instruct the authorities. If any person or organisation had difficulty in singing or playing the song, he or she should not be compelled or forced to sing it, provided there were valid reasons for not doing so, the judge said. When the matter came up on July 7, an Additional Government Pleader said the national song was written in Sanskrit and later transcribed into Bengali. The court was then helped by three advocates to get the correct position.
Administrative orders
Meerut Nagar Nigam
Meerut mayor: Singing Vande Mataram must | Mar 30 2017 : The Times of India (Delhi)
Meerut mayor Harikant Ahluwalia has passed a resolution that all Nagar Nigam board members will have to sing Vande Mataram or she will not be allowed to enter the board meeting room or participate in its proceedings, reports Sandeep Rai. The resolution will need the government's nod.
The announcement led to protests by a few Muslim board members, who quoted an SC order that says singing of Vande Mataram is not mandatory .
See also
National Anthem, India: Jehovah’s Witnesses
Vande Mataram
