Onlykashmir.in News Desk
“Vande Mataram”, the national song, must be played before national anthem, i.e., “Jana, Gana, Mana” at all government events and in all schools, the Union Home Ministry said in new rules issued Wednesday. The new rules also require all persons to stand when “Vande Mataram” is played.
The national song must now also be played at civilian awards ceremonies, like the Padma awards, and all other events attended by the President, during their arrival and departure. It will also be played in public spaces like cinema halls, though standing up is not mandatory in this instance.
And all six stanzas, including the four removed by the Congress in 1937, will be played. The directive, and the inclusion of those stanzas, will likely kick up a row, particularly up there was a massive fight between the ruling BJP and the Congress on this topic last year.
Under the law, any person who disrupts, or prevents others from respecting, the national anthem (and now the national song) can be sentenced to a max of 3 years in jail, says MHA
