Kolkata: West Bengal’s new BJP government has ordered that the national song “Vande Mataram” be sung in full at morning assemblies in all government schools across the state, effective immediately. Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said students must sing all six stanzas of the hymn before classes begin, overriding an earlier directive.
“Overriding the previous directive, the West Bengal government has made it mandatory with immediate effect for all schools under the Department of School Education to sing the Indian national song ‘Vande Mataram’ during the school assembly or morning prayer before the commencement of classes,” Adhikari said in an online post on May 14, 2026.
The move follows a central government decision in February 2026 to accord “Vande Mataram” a status equal to the national anthem, “Jana Gana Mana,” and to require that all six stanzas be sung at government and school events alongside the anthem. The central government marked the song’s 150th anniversary with a major event and a parliamentary debate earlier this year.
Composed in Sanskrit by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, “Vande Mataram” first appeared in the 1882 novel Anandamath; its first two stanzas were adopted as the national song in 1950. The full six-stanza hymn has long been a potent symbol of India’s freedom struggle and cultural heritage, but it has also been a flashpoint in political debates.
The BJP has accused the Congress of having trimmed the song to two stanzas in the past to “pander to the communal agenda,” alleging the removal of lines that reference the goddess Durga. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in November that the excision of several stanzas in 1937 “sowed the seeds” of partition, arguing that the fuller version is integral to nation-building.
The controversy has surfaced across state lines: earlier in May, at the oath ceremony of Tamil Nadu’s Chief Minister Vijay, the full national song was played before the national anthem, drawing sharp criticism from the DMK. Party mouthpiece Murasoli published an editorial accusing the act of “smearing the face of ‘Mother Tamil’ with soot,” underscoring how cultural and linguistic sensitivities complicate efforts to standardise protocol.
The West Bengal directive is likely to fuel further debate on national symbols, school rituals and regional reactions as states implement the central government’s guideline on performing the complete “Vande Mataram” in official and educational settings.
Original Source: https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/new-bjp-government-makes-vande-mataram-must-in-west-bengal-schools-11495505#publisher=newsstand
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Publish Date: 2026-05-14 18:33:00
