MHA issues new guidelines for Vande Mataram: 'Stand up, sing before national anthem'

The song will also be played or sung before and after the President’s speeches or national addresses.

• Audience must stand for Vande Mataram except in cinema halls during newsreels
• All six stanzas of Vande Mataram will be played at official events
• Schools told to promote National Song singing and respect for National Flag

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In its latest guidelines on Vande Mataram, the Union Home Ministry said that whenever the official version of the National Song is sung or played, the audience shall stand to attention. However, audiences are not expected to stand in cinema halls when the song is played during a newsreel or documentary.

According to News18, the MHA also stated that when the National Song and the National Anthem are sung, the National Song will be sung first.

The ministry issued guidelines on the official version of the National Song and the need to show respect by observing proper decorum.

According to the guidelines, all six stanzas of Vande Mataram, written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee—including the four stanzas dropped by the Congress in 1937—will be played.

According to reports, the ministry  has mandated that a six-stanza-long, 3 minutes and 10 seconds version of Vande Mataram be played or sung at a raft of official occasions.

Vande Mataram will also be played at civilian awards ceremonies such as the Padma awards and at all other official events attended by the President, including during the President’s arrival and departure.

On all occasions when the National Song is sung, the official version shall be recited with mass participation, the statement read as quoted by News18.

The guidelines also directed school authorities to make adequate provision in their programmes to popularise the singing of the National Song and the National Anthem, and to promote respect for the National Flag among students.

According to a report by Hindustan Times, the ministry also said that if the national song and the national anthem, Jana Gana Mana, are sung or played together, Vande Mataram will be played first, and that the audience shall stand in attention during the singing or playing.

The move comes amid the Centre’s recent push to popularise Vande Mataram. Notably, Parliament witnessed a heated debate over the song last year between the ruling BJP and the Congress.

The move comes after  Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s launch of a year-long commemoration marking 150 years of Vande Mataram. The Prime Minister inaugurated the celebrations by releasing a special commemorative stamp and coin in honour of the national song.

The Winter Session of Parliament also saw heated debates and sharp exchanges between the government and the Opposition during discussions on the national song.