Haryana to launch ‘state song’ depicting glorious past, rich present

The Manohar Lal Khattar-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) coalition government in Haryana on Monday knocked the doors of prominent Haryanavi poets and writers to compose what will be called a ‘state song’ by August 15

The Manohar Lal Khattar-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) coalition government in Haryana on Monday knocked the doors of prominent Haryanavi poets and writers to compose what will be called a ‘state song’ by August 15.

A flyer put up on the Haryana art and cultural affairs department’s official website in this regard. (HT Photo)

The government plans for the composition – capturing Haryana’s link to the pre-Indus Valley civilisation, Vedic culture, Bhagvat Geeta and Sarswati river – to be sung in local dialect.

The poem should also touch participation of Haryanvis in the first war of Independence, freedom struggle and now where Haryana stands in all spheres, including its contribution in defence and sports.

“We hope to give our people an inspiring state song to remind them about our glorious past and rich present while giving them a bright vision of the future,” said Suresh, joint director, art and culture affairs.

Haryana has set the ball rolling for the state song after a recent communication to the state governments, where the Centre talked of its plans to celebrate 75 years of India’s Independence as ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ in an inclusive and participatory manner.

Sources said the Centre has said a special initiative is being undertaken to create songs connected to each state and UTs in local languages and dialects – celebrating their heroes, major events, and stories of the region’s freedom struggle.

“Each state/UT is requested to explore the idea of creating its own freedom song in the local language/dialect as deemed appropriate. The aim is to bring out the hidden stories of India’s journey to freedom by celebrating local unsung heroes, relatively unknown regional events and popular stories worthy of commemoration as part of India @75 activities,” the Union ministry of culture said in its communication.

In this backdrop, the Haryana art and cultural affairs department on Monday kicked-off an exercise to invite compositions from writers and poets, who are native of Haryana, for the state song.

Interested writers and poets will have to verify their own creation and send it through the department’s email: artandculturalaffairshry@gmail.com by August 15.

As the August 15 deadline set for receiving the compositions is too tight, steps are afoot to extend the deadline.

The author of the best composition, which will be selected as the state song, will be honoured with a cash award of ₹1 lakh.