Vande Mataram sung throughout, madrasas join in

New Delhi, Sep 7: Vande Mataram, a song eponymous with the epic freedom struggle, was sung throughout the country today on the centenary of its adoption as the national song, amid the controversy whether its recital should be mandatory or optional.

While some sections of Muslims joined the singing, most abstained. Some found an innovative way -- reciting 'Sare Jahaan se Accha', an ode equally linked with the freedom struggle.

In the national capital, politicians joined school children, government officials and office goers for collective singing of 'Vande Mataram' at commemorative functions. Though divided on the question whether the song was in salutation to the motherland or Hindu gods, members of the minority communities made conspicuous attendance, in skull caps and turbans, at various functions organised by political parties.

Channels played the song intermittently, with most also giving live coverage to commemorative functions organised by political parties.

Union Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh, who had issued directives to celebrate the day, joined school children in Karol Bagh where a collective singing of 'Vande Mataram' was organised.

Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee participated in a function at the BJP headquarters. Irrespective of faith, ''everyone should sing the song together,'' he said while regretting that the song had sparked a controversy.

In Uttar Pradesh, most Muslims preferred to sing Iqbal's song, but in the temple city of Varanasi, burqa-clad women openly recited 'Vande Mataram'. These women had yesterday carried out 'Vande Mataram' Peace March in support of reciting the song.

In Moradabad, tension prevailed at the collectorate premises when BJP and some Muslim organisations raised slogans for and against singing of the national song. A heavy police presence, however, prevented the situation from getting out of hand.

In the state capital, Islamic Centre of India had organised a programme at Eidgah to mark the occasion. Around a hundred children from the minority community recited 'Saare jahan se aacha...' Head of the Madrasa Nizamiya Farangi Mahal Mualana Khalid Rasheed told reporters that the purpose of the programme was to show the Muslims' respect and love for the country. ''While as per the Muslim Personal Law, Muslims could not sing 'Vande Mataram', the song was actually written to appease the Britishers,'' he claimed.

The BJP and its affiliates, meanwhile, took out several processions in the UP capital to mark the occasion. Bajrang Dal activists, along with school children hit the streets to mark the national song's centenary. Some activists were seen dancing to the tune of A R Rehman's hit 'Vande Mataram...Maa tujhe salaam'.

In Varanasi, all sections from burqa-clad Muslim women to rag-pickers, students of gurukuls to wards of English medium schools to rank and file of BJP and Congress pitched in to sing Vande Mataram across the city.

However in Bihar, no official function was organised for recitation of 'Vande Mataram.' The state government, distancing itself from the controversy arising out of the Central directive to recite the song, did not issue any circular making its singing mandatory whereas the BJP, and other organisations affiliated to it organised several programmes for its mass singing. JD(U), the major component of the NDA chose to keep itself away from official singing of the song.

Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) did not organise any programme, and the RJD also stayed away from official singing of the song.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar pleaded time crunch for not singing the song as he was busy with his 'janata darbar'. ''It is not at all mandatory and no one should be compelled to sing'Vande Mataram','' he said. Meanwhile, several prominent convent missionaries and government schools did not organise the mass recitation of 'Vande Mataram,' while in some private schools the children and their teachers sang the song. The song was also not recited in about 4000 madarsas of the state. Madarsa Education Board president Abdul Wahab said that 'Vande Mataram' would not have been recited even if the government had made it mandatory.

In Maharashtra, Vande Mataram was sung by political parties, students and people from all walks of life in Mumbai.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh joined the centenary celebration at the Congress office in Tilak Bhavan, central Mumbai along with state unit president Prabha Rau, and his cabinet colleagues.

The Shiv Sena-affiliated Sthanik Lokadhikar Samiti, an organisation involved in ensuring jobs for locals, organised recitals at Hutatma Chowk in South Mumbai, while the Shiv Sena also organised mass singing of the song in all its 'shakhas' across the metroplis.

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. The attendance in Urdu schools was as usual but plain clothes policemen were seen outside few Urdu schools in Nagpada.

Fayza Feroz Ansari, 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.

Elsewhere in Maharashtra, public recitals were organised by various parties in Pune and Aurangabad as well.

In Gujarat, Governor Nawal Kishore Sharma, Chief Minister Narendra Modi and his Cabinet Ministers today joined hundreds others in singing the national song in Gandhinagar.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Modi said, ''It is not simply a national song, it is a 'maha mantra' for building a grand India.' Despite some reservations voiced by some Muslim leaders about the song, saying it ''went against Islamic teachings', the students of several Muslim-run institutions too participated in the programmes. In the communally-sensitive Godhra town, two Muslim dominated schools--Iqbal High School and Iqbal Girls High School--too joined the centenary celebrations of the song, written by Dr Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyaya in 1876.

Minority institutions in Surat like Surat Muslims Young Graduate Society school, Begumpura MTB Girls School and MTB Technical Education School in Rampura, also participated in the singing of the song, a report said.

In Madhya Pradesh, employees in all government offices and local bodies and students in madrasas and other educational institutions joined in chorus singing of Vande Mataram.

The national song, translated into Urdu, was sung in over 5,000 madrasas, where 2.75 lakh students were enrolled, State Madrasa Board chairman S K Muddin said.

In the state capital, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan took part in the recital at state BJP office as well as at the Mantralaya.

In neighbouring Chhattisgarh, chorus singing and massive rallies marked the centenary of national song.

An official spokesman claimed about 50 lakh students recited the national song in schools and Madrasas across the state.

The song was also sung by thousands of school students in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Union Territory, majority of them belonging to government-run or aided schools.

The BJP-sponsored 'Vande Mataram Shatabdi Yatra,' which reached Chandigarh from Hoshiarpur as part of the nation-wide celebrations this morning, culminated with a spirited rendition of the national song by hundreds of enthusiasts.

Mass recitals were also reported from Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, with political parties and school children enthusiastically singing the song though many madarsas did not participate.

In Asom, fears of ''earthquake'' predicted by a Madras University professor for tomorrow overshadowed the celebrations, with the programme remaining a low key affair.

Vande Mataram was sung in all educational institutions except madarsas with many of them remaining closed, government offices and offices of political parties in BJP-ruled Rajasthan.

Reports of singing of Vande Mataram were also received from Uttaranchal, where the BJP National Executive is currently underway, Tripura and Jharkhand, where the BJP-led government began a week-long programme from today to mark its centenary.

UNI

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