A Madras High Court judge on Tuesday 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. Muralidharan 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 Muralidharan 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, thus making it available on Government websites and social media. The Chief Secretary would instruct authorities.
If any person/organisation has difficulty in singing or playing the national song, he or she should not be compelled or forced to sing it, provided there are valid reasons for not doing so,” said Justice Muralidaran.
Interestingly, when the court heard the matter on July 7, an Additional Government Pleader submitted that the national song was written in Sanskrit and later transcribed into Bengali. The court then sought the assistance of the advocates from the bar. Three lawyers, S.Sujatha, A.S.Bilal and Annadurai, provided material on the subject. The judge said Ms. Sujatha had taken painstaking effort in collecting materials from the National Encyclopaedia of Bangladesh, extracts from the book interpretation of Vande Mataram and produced other records from the house of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay on the subject.
The materials showed that the song was originally penned as ‘Bondey Matorom’ by the poet in Bengali. It was later translated into Sanskrit as Vande Mataram, the judge noted, while ordering the TRB to award an additional mark for the correct answer to the petitioner. The court also directed