Vande Mataram centenary celebrated in Mumbai

Mumbai, Sept 7 (UNI) Politicians, students and people from all walks of life came together to sing ''Vande Mataram'' to mark the centenary of the national song penned by Bankim chandra Chaterjee in different parts of the state.

Congress and BJP-shiv Sena organised separate functions to mark the occasion. BJP leader Vinod Tawde and noted fashion designer Shaina N C organised a collective singing of the song at Azad Maidan in which Spastic society, Dignity Foundation and Cancer Patients Aid Association participated.

Film stars Raveena Tandon and directors Madhur Bhandarkar, Ashok Pandit, singer Ila Arun, TV actress Smita Jaykar, and cricketer Dilip Vengsarkar were prominent among those present on the occasion.

BJP organised a programme at its state office as well as at several other places in the city. The programme at the state's office was attended by former Union Ministers Ram Naik, Jayawantiben Mehta and city BJP chief Prakash Mehta.

Shiv Sena also organised a programme of recital of Vande mataram at Shiv Sena Bhavan, Dadar which was attended by the party's executive president Uddhav Thackeray, senior Sena leader Manohar Joshi and others.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh joined the centenary celebration at the Congress office in Tilak Bhavan in central Mumbai along with state unit president Prabha Rau, Rehabilitation minister Patangrao Kadam, parliamentary affairs minister Harshvardhan Patil and others. AICC general secretary Margaret Alva was also present.

Maharashtra Pradesh Seva Dal president Chandrakant Dayama organised the singing of Vande Mataram which was followed by flag hoisting.

The Sthanik Lokadhikar Samiti, an organisation affiliated to the Shiv Sena which is involved in ensuring jobs for locals, organised singing of Vande Mataram at Hutatma Chowk in South Mumbai.

Head of samiti Shiv Sena MLA Gajanan Kirtikar was present on the occasion.

Shiv Sena also organised mass singing of the song in all its 'shakhas' across Mumbai.

Mumbai Mayor Datta Dalvi invited school children from civic as well as private schools to the Mayor bungalow in central Mumbai for recital of the song.

Vande Mataram was also sung in most schools including Urdu medium schools in different parts of the city. In Malad, situated in North Mumbai, a madarasa called 'Minhas' also celebrated the centenary of Vande Mataram by singing it.

In some Urdu schools instead of Vande Mataram, 'Sare jahaan se acchaa' was sung. Meanwhile, there was no effect of the appeal made by Muslim religious scholars to parents not to send their children to schools today, while Vande Mataram was being be sung. The attendance in Urdu schools was as usual but plain clothes policemen were seen outside few Urdu schools in Nagpada.

Fayza Feroz Ansari, a student of standard V of Anjuman girls urdu high school at Nagpada, said there was nothing wrong in reciting Vande Mataram and her parents had insisted and instructed her to sing the song in school. ''They also told me that if the school authorities do not sing, I should do so independently. I sang Vande Mataram along with other school friends this morning,'' she said.

Adwait Shirke, a class X student of Yashodam high school in Goregaon said Vande Mataram is sung in his school every day and it was sung today in usual manner by all the students.

UNI TEAM PM VD MIR RN1918