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Yogi makes ‘Vande Mataram’ must in all UP schools: ‘No new Jinnahs should rise'
UP CM Yogi Adityanath said on Monday that there should be a sense of respect for the national song Vande Mataram.
Singing of ‘Vande Mataram’ will be made compulsory in all educational institutions of Uttar Pradesh, chief minister Yogi Adityanath announced on Monday amid a political slugfest surrounding the national song, important stanzas of which PM Modi claimed last week were dropped in 1937.
Addressing an 'Ekta Yatra' (Unity March) event in Gorakhpur, UP CM Yogi Adityanath said on Monday 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," PTI news agency quoted Adityanath.
'Ensure no Jinnahs are created'
Yogi Adityanath also said at the event that our duty is to “identify elements that divide in name of caste, region, language” and “are part of conspiracy to create new Jinnahs.”
“We must ensure no new Jinnah ever arises in India again… we must bury divisive intent before it can take root,” UP CM Adityanath said in Gorakhpur.
The Congress has been demanding an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for alleging on Friday that important stanzas of "Vande Mataram" were dropped in 1937, which sowed the seeds of partition. PM Modi had said that such a "divisive mindset" is still a challenge for the country.
The Congress on Sunday claimed the prime minister "insulted" the Congress Working Committee of 1937, which issued a statement on the song, as well as also Rabindranath Tagore.
In a post on X on Sunday, party spokesperson Jairam Ramesh 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 October 28, 1937, the CWC issued a statement on Vande Mataram, and this statement had been profoundly influenced by Rabindranath Tagore and his advice, he said on X.
"The prime minister has insulted this CWC as well as Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. That he should have done so is shocking but not surprising since the RSS had played no role in our freedom movement led by Mahatma Gandhi," Ramesh said.
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.
PM Modi had made the comments after inaugurating the year-long commemoration of "Vande Mataram" to mark 150 years of the national song.
As per historical references, the Vande Mataram was first published by Bankim Chandra Chatterji in the Bangadarshan magazine on November 7, 1875, and was sung by Rabindranath Tagore at a session of the Indian National Congress in 1896.
