Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan has indirectly stated that the state will not comply with the law passed by Parliament regarding the complete recitation of Vande Mataram.
“Parliament has passed a law. Failure to comply can result in imprisonment of up to three years, and a notification for the law has also been issued. However, the government has a policy regarding what needs to be done here, and there is a UDF decision. Things will proceed accordingly. Wait and see whether Vande Mataram will be sung in full or not,” Satheesan stated during a press conference following the cabinet meeting.
Both houses of Parliament passed a bill honoring Vande Mataram, which was subsequently gazetted as law and made available to the states. The central government also issued clear directives to states on how Vande Mataram should be honored and sung during Independence Day celebrations. Despite this, the Chief Minister openly declared that the law passed by Parliament will not be followed, signaling that the enactment is not applicable to Kerala.
The Chief Minister’s stance is that while singing the national song in full has become law, the state government will decide which lines to sing and how it should be performed. He added that the government’s policy for Independence Day remains to be seen.
The state government’s stance appears to mirror the views of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML). The IUML was the first to oppose the full recitation of Vande Mataram, and when the bill was presented in the Lok Sabha, the Congress strongly opposed it on behalf of the League.
The Chief Minister’s position is that the President approved the bill passed by Parliament and a circular was sent to the Chief Secretary. The Chief Secretary merely forwarded this to the protocol department and departmental secretaries, rather than issuing a mandatory directive that Vande Mataram must be sung in its entirety.
