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PM Modi to inaugurate Chauri Chaura event in UP tomorrow
The Uttar Pradesh government is preparing to create a world record during the Chauri Chaura centenary celebrations, when tens of thousands of children from all districts of the state will recite the Vande Mataram from 10am on February 3 to 12 noon on February 4.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Chauri Chaura centenary celebrations at Chauri Chaura in Uttar Pradesh on February 4 via video conferencing.
The Uttar Pradesh government is preparing to create a world record during the Chauri Chaura centenary celebrations, when tens of thousands of children from all districts of the state will recite the Vande Mataram from 10am on February 3 to 12 noon on February 4.
Around 50,000 students will recite the national song in a bid to enter the Guinness Book of World Records. Currently, this record is held by a gathering of 20,000 who sang it together, said Vinay Kumar Pandey, Uttar Pradesh’s director of secondary education.
The most people singing live on a radio broadcast is 10,793, achieved by Jingying Group (China) in Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China, on 1 October 2018, said Amit Kumar Agnihotri, assistant director of the UP cultural directorate.
“The state government has set a target of 50,000 to be on the safer side to avoid any last-minute glitch,” he said.
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February 4 marks the centenary of a landmark event in the freedom struggle that took place at Chauri Chaura village in Gorakhpur district of Uttar Pradesh, known as United Province in British India, when a large group of protesters participating in Mahatma Gandhi’s non-cooperation movement clashed with the police, who opened fire. In retaliation, the protestors set fire to a police station. The incident left three civilians and 22 policemen dead. Days later, a saddened Gandhi halted the non-cooperation movement.
As part of their preparations for the centenary, thousands of students are making videos of themselves singing the first stanza of Vande Mataram, with a hand raised in salute. They are required to send these clips to their schools, after which these videos will be uploaded on a link that will be opened by the Guinness Book of World Records.
Aradhya Singh of Class 11 at City Montessori School (CMS, Aliganj campus 1) was among the first to send a clip of her video. Principal Jyoti Kashyap said it was sent to other students to replicate. A large number of students from all CMS campuses will recite Vande Mataram on Chauri Chaura Diwas, said Jagdish Gandhi, CMS founder.
“The Guinness world record team will share a link at 10am on February 3 for the schools to upload all videos by February 4 till 12 noon. They will assess the videos, and after verification, issue a certificate,” said Mukesh Kumar Meshram, principal secretary of the Uttar Pradesh government.
Additional chief secretary (secondary education) Aradhana Shukla said: “We are expecting a large number of videos from schools across UP.”
