Chennai: The Madras High Court on Tuesday issued an order making the national song 'Vande Mataram' compulsory in schools, colleges and Government offices in Tamil Nadu.
The court said that the director of public information will upload a translated version of the National Song in Tamil and English that will be made available in the Government websites and on social media.
It also marked the order to the Chief Secretary of the State who will issue instructions to the concerned authorities.
"The National Song ‘Vande Mataram’ shall be played and sung in all schools/colleges/Universities and other educational institutions atleast once a week (preferably on Monday or Friday). It shall also be played and sung in all Government offices and institutions/private companies/ factories and industries at least once a month," the Court said.
However, it added that a person shall not be forced it sing it provided he or she has valid reasons.
This order comes after K. Veeramani, the petitioner, moved the High Court and said he failed to clear the written test for the post of BT Assistant as he answered that Vande Mataram was written in Bengali. He further claimed that the song was originally written in Bengali but the Teachers recruitment Board made a mistake in the answer key and he failed to clear the exam because of that.
The Government told the court that the song was written in Sanskrit and later translated in Bengali. The Judge then directed the Advocate General to come back with the correct answer to clear the confusion. On July 13, AG clarified that the national song was Sanskrit but written in Bengali language.
Following the order, analyst RK Radhakrishnan, Associate Editor, Frontline, said, “The increasing instances of court entering and passing orders in the domain of the legislature and the executive is unfortunate and is a cause for concern.”
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